PBINCETON,  N.  J. 

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'he  John  M.  Krebs  Donation. 


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AND 


SACRAilIEIVTAIi    EXHORT ATIOI¥S. 


BY    THE    LATE 
ANDREW   THOMSON,   D.   D. 

MINISTER   OP    ST.  GEORGE'S    CHURCH,    EDINBURGH. 


First  American  Edition. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER, 

47,  Washington  Street. 

NEW  YORK:— J.  LEAVITT, 

182,  Broadway. 

1832. 


^' 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
MEMOIR  OF  DR.   THOMSON,  -------      xiii 

SERMON  I. 

SALVATION    BY    GRACE. 

For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith. — Ephe- 
sians  ii.  6,     -----------     61 

SERMON  IT. 

HUMAN    AND    DIVINE    LOVE    CONTRASTED. 

For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die; 
yet  peradventure  for  a  good  man  some  would 
even  dare  to  die.  But  God  commendeth  his 
love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sin- 
ners, Christ  died  for  us. — Romans  v.  7,  8,      -     84 

EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION,  -   -   -   99 


IV  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  III. 

THE    JOYFUL    SOUND. 

Blessed  is  the  people  that  know  the  joyful  sound. — 
Psalm  Ixxxix.  15,  -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -110 

SERMON  IV. 

SPIRITUAL   RENOVATION. 

Therefore,  if  any  man  he  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature  ;  old  things  are  passed  away  ;  behold, 
all  things  are  become  new. — 2  Corinthians  v.  17,  134 

SERMON  V. 

THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE. 

For  our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our 
conscience,  that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity, 
not  with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God, 
we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world,  and 
more  abundantly  to  you-ward,' — 2  Corinthians 
i.  12, - 148 

SERMON  VI. 

THE    christian's    CHOICE. 

And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord, 
choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve. — 
Joshua  xxiv.  15,     ---------  160 

SERMON  VII. 

christian   BENEFICENCE. 

/  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in, — Matthew 
XXV.  35, - 180 


CONTENTS. 


SERMON  VIIL 

THE    IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS    EXAGGERATED. 

Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  he  not  blas- 
phemed,— 1  Timothy  vi.  1, 200 

SERMON  IX. 

THE    IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS    NO    ARGUMENT 
AGAINST    CHRISTIANITY. 

Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed.— 1  Timothy  vi.  1, 214 

SERMON  X. 

THE    IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS    NO   ARGUMENT 
AGAINST    CHRISTIANITY. 

Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed,— 1  Timothy  vi.  1, 225 

SERMON  XL 

THE    DUTY    OF    CHRISTIANS    IN    REFERENCE    TO    THE 
OBJECTION    FOUNDED    ON  THEIR  IMPERFECTIONS. 

Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed,— 1  Timothy  vi.  1,     -----    -  239 


VI  CONTENTS. 


SERMON  XII. 

THE   DUTY   OF    CHRISTIANS    IN   REFERENCE    TO   THE 
OBJECTION    FOUNDED  ON   THEIR   IMPERFECTIONS. 

Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  he  not  blas- 
phemed.— 1  Timothy  vi.  1, 252 


SERMON  Xin. 

ENCOURAGEMENT   TO   PRATER. 

Aski  and  it  shall  he  given  you, — Matthew  vii.  7,     267 

EXHORTATION   AFTER  THE    COMMUNION,-      -      -      281 

SERMON  XIV. 

ENCOURAGEMENT   TO    PRATER. 

Ask,  and  it  shall  he  given  you. — Matthew  vii.  7,    289 
SERMON  XV. 

PRAYER   IN   AFFLICTION. 

Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ?     Let  him  pray. — 
James  v.  13, 303 


CONTENTS*  ivH 

SERMON  XVI. 


Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  he  saved, — ^Jere- 
miah xvii.  14,   ---- 324 

EXHORTATION   AFTER  THE    COMMUNION,    -      -      -   342 

SERMON  XVIL 

SPIRITUAL    DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDY. 

Is  there  no  halm  in  Gilead  ?  Is  there  no  physi- 
cian there  9  Why  then  is  not  the  health  of  the 
daughter  of  my  people  recovered. — ^Jeremiah 
viii.  22, 355 

SERMON  XVIII. 

CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION. 

J  was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth  ;  hecause  thou 
didst  it, — Psalm  xxxix.  9,      ------  369 

SERMON  XIX. 

THE    ACCEPTED    TIME. 

Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  hehold,  now  is 
the  day  of  salvation. — 2  Corinthians  vi.  2,  -     -  389 

SERMON  XX. 

VIEWS    OF    DEATH. 

Thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  and  re- 
turn  to  their  dust, — Psalm  civ.  29,  -     -     -     -  393 


Vm  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  XXI. 

CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE. 

Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stedfast, 
unmoveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.'''* — 1  Corinthians  xv.  58,  417 

SERMON  XXII. 


Continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast 
learned,  and  hast  been  assured  of,  knowing  of 
whom  thou  hast  learned  them, — 2  Timothy  iii.  13,  431 


.r  PEIITCETOIT     \, 


•^ 


MEMOIR 


AISDREW    THOMSOJNT,    D.   D. 


The  time  has  not  perhaps  arrived  when  justice  can 
be  done  to  an  extended  Memoir  of  the  late  Dr. 
Thomson,  a  task  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  some  of  his 
early  friends  will  be  induced  to  undertake.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  following  brief  notice  may  not  be 
unacceptable,  as  an  introduction  to  a  volume  of  his 
posthumous  discourses. 

Dr.  Andrew  Thomson  was  born  at  Sanquhar,  in 
Dumfries-shire,  on  the  11th  of  July,  1779.  His 
father  was  the  late  Dr.  John  Thomson,  one  of  the 
ministers  of  Edinburgh ;  at  the  time  of  his  son's  birth, 
minister  of  Sanquhar,  and,  subsequently,  of  Markinch 
in  Fife.  The  subject  of  this  Memoir,  without  affording 
any  striking  proof  of  premature  scholarship,  from  which 
an  augury  of  his  future  fame  might  have  been  drawn, 
was  remarkable  from  his  earliest  years  for  intelli- 
2 


XIV  MEMOIR    OF 

gence  and  vivacity,  and  especially  for  that  free,  manly, 
openhearted  character,  which,  in  after  life,  gave  him  so 
strong  a  hold  on  the  affections  of  all  who  intimately 
knew  him.  It  is  difficult  to  say  at  what  precise  period 
bis  thoughts  first  turned  seriously  to  the  ministry  :  but 
he  had  not  been  many  years  at  college  before  he 
exhibited  decided  symptoms  of  the  power  of  that  vital 
religion,  which  forms  the  first  and  best  qualification  for 
the  sacred  office. 

Early  in  1802  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel, 
by  the  presbytery  of  Kelso;  and  on  the  11th  of 
March  of  the  same  year,  he  was  ordained  minister  of 
the  parish  of  Sprouston,  within  the  bounds  of  the  pres- 
bytery from  which  he  had  received  licence.  Shortly 
after  his  settlement  at  Sprouston,  he  married  Miss 
Carmichael,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  still  alive.  The  result  of  this  union  was  all 
the  happiness  which  the  marriage  relation  can  afford ; 
interrupted  only  to  the  afflicted  survivor,  by  the  melan- 
choly event  which  has  deprived  her  and  her  family  of 
the  society  of  one,  who,  if  possible,  was  still  more 
attractive  and  delightful  in  the  family  circle  than  he  was 
commanding  and  distinguished  in  the  public  walks  of 
professional  and  active  life. 

During  his  ministry  at  Sprouston,  Dr.  Thomson 
displayed  the  same  vigor,  earnestness,  and  fidelity,  by 
which  his  labors,  in  more  extensive  spheres,  were  sub- 
sequently characterized.  His  interest  in  the  external 
affairs  of  the  church,  was  manifested  by  the  share  he 
began  to  take  in  the  business  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts 
of  which  he  was  a  member;  while  of  his  anxiety  to 
promote  the  higher  interests  of  religion,  a  satisfactory 


DR.    THOMSON.  XV 

evidence  exists  in  the  catechism  on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  he  published  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  among 
his  parishioners ;  a  work  which  has  passed  through 
many  editions ;  and  which  we  have  reason  to  know, 
has  proved  eminently  useful  to  many  besides  those  for 
whose  use  it  was  originally  designed. 

In  the  year  1808,  Dr.  Thomson  was  removed  to  the 
East  Church,  Perth.  Here,  in  conjunction  with  his 
brother,  and  others  of  his  friends,  ministers  of  Perth 
and  its  neighborhood,  he  lived  happily,  and  labored 
successfully,  till  the  spring  of  1810,  when  he  received 
a  presentation  from  the  magistrates  and  council  of 
Edinburgh,  to  the  New  Greyfriars  church  in  that  city. 
In  this  situation,  better  adapted  to  his  talents,  and  to 
the  active  character  of  his  mind  than  either  of  the  pre- 
ceding, he  entered  on  a  course  of  ministerial  service, 
which  proved  in  no  ordinary  degree  acceptable  and 
useful.  Many  who  have  since  distinguished  themselves 
for  Christian  worth  and  attainments,  owed  their  first 
religious  impressions  to  his  discourses  in  the  New 
Greyfriars.  To  the  young,  especially,  and  the  students 
attending  the  university,  his  ministry  was  at  this  period 
peculiarly  attractive.  Previously  to  his  coming  to 
Edinburgh,  it  had  been  too  much  the  policy  of  the 
town-council  of  that  city  to  translate,  from  the  country 
to  churches  in  their  gift,  ministers  of  considerable  age 
and  standing,  whose  habits  and  whose  style  of  preaching 
were  formed ;  and  who,  from  these  circumstances, 
were  less  qualified  than  younger  men  to  adapt  their 
ministrations  to  the  intelligence  and  taste  of  their  new 
audience  ;  who,  coming  from  the  country,  where  they 
had  perhaps  acquired  a  character  for  eloquence  of  a 


XVI  MEMOIR    OF 

certain  popular,  though  not  very  accurate  or  refined 
description,  and  finding  some  change  necessary,  felt 
themselves  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed  ;  and  being  neither 
vi^illing  to  adhere  to  their  former  standard,  nor  able  to 
conform  to  a  better,  sank  down  into  inertness  and 
inefficiency ;  satisfied  with  the  substitution  of  tame  cor- 
rectness for  the  vigorous,  though  homely  strain  of  their 
former  pulpit  addresses.  At  no  period,  perhaps,  could 
this  have  been  the  case  with  the  energetic  and  versatile 
mind  of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir.  Happily,  however, 
the[^time  of  life  at  which  he  entered  on  his  labors  in 
Edinburgh,  conspired,  with  the  peculiar  turn  of  his 
mind,  to  render,  in  his  instance,  the  adaptation  of  his 
pulpit  ministrations  natural  and  easy.  In  the  opening 
vigor  of  his  faculties,  and  with  the  habits  of  study 
which  necessity  imposes  even  on  country  clergymen  at 
an  early  period  of  their  ministry,  Dr.  Thomson  com- 
menced that  arduous,  but  effective  course  of  public 
service  in  the  metropolis  of  Scotland,  which  it  was  big 
privilege  to  prosecute,  with  unabated  vigor,  to  the  close 
of  his  life.  Those  who  recollect  the  period  to  which 
we  now  refer,  as  the  commencement  of  that  course, 
will  remember  the  powerful  impression  produced  on 
the  mind  of  the  public  at  large,  by  the  commanding 
appeals  of  his  occasional  sermons  for  charitable  objects ; 
while  those  who  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  ordinary 
Sabbath  ministrations,  will  recal  with  delight,  and  many 
of  them  with  feelings  deeper  and  more  grateful  than  those 
of  mere  delight,  the  effect  created  by  his  lucid  expo- 
sitions of  sacred  Scripture,  and  by  his  earnest,  eloquent, 
and  affectionate  addresses  on  the  topics  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  Christian  duty. 


DR.    THOMSON.  XVll 

A  few  months  after  his  admission  into  Edinburgh, 
Dr.  Thomson,  with  the  assistance  of  several  of  his 
clerical  brethren,  in  the  church  and  in  the  secession, 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  Christian  Instructor ; 
a  work  that,  in  spite  of  the  disfavor  with  which,  in  cer- 
tain quarters,  it  has  been  regarded,  and  a  want  of  the 
support  which  it  justly  merited  from  the  friends  both  of 
religion  and  of  the  establishment,  has  been  the  means 
of  doing  incalculable  service  in  many  ways,  to  the  cause 
of  Christianity.  As  a  monument  of  Dr.  Thomson's 
indefatigable  activity,  the  work  has  perhaps  no  parallel. 
For  many  years,  not  only  did  the  task  of  editorship  fall 
exclusively  upon  Dr.  Thomson,  but  to  him  it  was 
indebted  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  best  articles, 
whether  in  the  miscellaneous  or  critical  department, 
which,  in  the  face  of  circumstances  that  tended  to 
obstruct  its  circulation,  and  injure  its  popularity,  con- 
tinued to  extort  for  it,  from  the  religious  public,  a  great 
share  of  favorable  regard. 

The  charge  of  the  Christian  Instructor  was  not,  how- 
ever, his  sole  literary  undertaking.  To  the  Edinburgh 
Encyclopaedia,  conducted  by  Dr.  Brewster,  he  con- 
tributed many  articles,  some  of  them  of  considerable 
interest,  and  all  of  them  indicative  of  the  patience  of  his 
research,  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  the  unaf- 
fected vigor  of  his  style. 

In  the  year  1814,  St.  George's  church,  which  had 
been  for  some  years  building,  was  ready  for  public 
worship,  and  was  opened  on  Sunday,  the  5th  of  June, 
of  that  year,  by  the  late  Rev.  Sir  Henry  MoncrieiF 
Wellwood,  Bart.,  who  preached  from  Ecclesiastes  v.  1. 
As  the  individual  best  qualified  to  fill  a  very  large 
*2 


XVlll  MEMOin    OF 

Structure,  situate,  at  that  time,  at  the   extremity  of  the 
city.  Dr.  Thomson  was  fixed  upon  as  its  minister,  and  to 
this  charge  he  was  admitted  on  Thursday,  the  16th  of 
June,  1814.     Here  the  more  pubHc  and  brilliant  part 
of  his   course    commenced.      He   had    difficulties   to 
encounter,  both  in  collecting  and  in  retaining  a  congre- 
gation, which  would  have  had  a  depressing  effect  on  the 
mind  of  most  men.     To  Dr.  Thomson,  however,  who 
of  all  men  was  formed  to  contend  with,  and  to  master 
difficulties,  these  only  gave  interest  to  his  new  situation. 
They  had  no  other  effect  on  his  elastic  and  enterprising 
spirit  than  to  incite  him  to  redoubled  exertions,  and  to 
a  more  energetic  display  of  ministerial  fidelity.     Being 
possessed    of  great   natural    fluency  in  point   both  of 
thought  and  of  expression,  he  had  not,  up  to  the  period 
of  his  appointment  to  St.  George's  been  in  the  regular 
habit  of  writing  out  his  discourses.     Aware,  however, 
of  the  importance  of  correctness  and  variety,  in  com- 
positions addressed  to  an  audience,  composed  chiefly 
of  the  higher  classes  of  Society  in  such  a  city  as  Edin- 
burgh, he   formed   the    resolution  of  adopting   a  new 
practice,  and  of  preaching  nothing  which  he  had   not 
carefully  studied  and  prepared.     In  this  way,  w^hile  he 
followed  a  plan  recommended  by  considerations  both  of 
duty  and  of  expediency,  he  voluntarily  incurred  a  new 
amount  of  labor.     For  many  years,  he  weekly  com- 
posed and  wrote  two   discourses  for  the  pulpit ;  and 
this  at  a  time,  when,  in  addition  to  other  avocations,  he 
was  engaged  in  forming  a  ministerial  acquaintance  with 
a  congregation  unusually  large,  and  composed  of  per- 
sons to  whom  the  slight  and  hasty  notices  of  ordinary 
parochial  visitation  would  not  have  been  appropriate. 


DR.    THOMSON.  XIX 

But,  if  thus  he  added  to  his  labors,  he  had  also  the 
satisfaction  of  perceiving  that  he  had  secured  his  use- 
fulness. Over  a  description  of  persons,  by  many  of 
whom,  at  the  commencement  of  his  ministry  in  St. 
George's,  the  peculiar  doctrines  and  obligations  of  the 
gospel  were  little  known  or  relished.  Dr.  Thomson 
speedily  acquired  an  influence  scarcely  ever  possessed 
by  any  preacher.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  say,  that  he 
owed  this  enviable  ascendancy  to  no  compromise  of 
principle — to  no  unworthy  accommodation  of  divine 
truth  to  the  prejudices  of  his  audience.  In  addressing 
himself  to  a  congregation  peculiarly  exclusive  and  sen- 
sitive, he  stood  upon  the  high  ground  of  his  office  as  an 
ambassador  for  Christ;  and  with  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  to  whose  bold,  unfearing  character,  his  own, 
in  many  points,  bore  a  striking  resemblance,  he  deter- 
mined to  know  nothing,  as  the  subject  of  his  ministry, 
but  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  How  fully,  effect- 
ively, and  perseveringly,  he  adhered  to  his  system,  the 
recollection  of  his  hearers,  as  well  as  the  strain  of  his 
published  discourses  amply  testify.  The  peculiar 
qualifications  which  he  brought  to  his  task  are,  at  the 
same  time,  not  to  be  overlooked.  To  a  manner  of 
great  animation  and  fire,  yet  restrained  and  dignified, 
he  added  a  style  of  uncommon  simplicity  and  spirit, 
which  nature  enabled  him  to  set  off  to  advantage  by  the 
tones  of  a  voice  remarkable  for  compass  and  harmony. 
He  delighted  in  argument ;  but  his  arguments  were  of 
that  direct,  palpable,  practical  character,  which  stim- 
ulate attention,  and  admit  of  being  appreciated  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  ordinary  understanding;  while  the 
truths  he  labored  to  establish,  were  all  of  acknowledged 


X3t  MEMOIR    OF 

importance,  bore  so  intimate  a  relation  to  the  system 
which,  as  a  Christian  minister,  it  was  his  province  to 
illustrate  and  enforce,  and  came  so  closely  and  power- 
fully home  to  every  man's  heart  and  conscience,  that 
nothing  could  appear  more  natural  than  the  pains  he 
took  to  explain  and  defend  them.  As  in  the  clear 
fountain  of  his  thoughts,  there  were  no  turbid  elements 
— no  confusion  of  ideas — no  obscure  images — no  sur- 
face on  which  a  wayward  fancy  could  paint  the  fluctu- 
ating figures  of  its  own  changeful  extravagance — so  in 
his  discourses,  all  was  simple,  perspicuous,  unaffected, 
and  intelligible.  Imagination  was  not  perhaps  his  dis- 
tinctive faculty;  yet,  even  of  the  glow  and  peculiar 
effect  of  a  well-disciplined  imagination,  his  composi- 
tions were  not  destitute.  When  he  chose,  be  could  be 
tender,  descriptive,  and  impassioned ;  and  when  he 
indulged  neither  in  declamation  addressed  to  the  fancy, 
nor  in  appeals  which  went  to  the  heart,  he  uniformly 
commanded  attention  by  the  clearness  of  his  statements, 
the  force  of  his  reasonings,  and  the  pointed  and  prac- 
tical strain  of  his  exhortations.  It  has  been  well 
remarked  of  him,  that  few  men,  and  especially  few 
public  instructors,  ever  displayed  a  greater  practical 
acquaintance  with  human  nature,  or  could  turn  their 
knowledge  to  better  account.  His  hearers  accordingly, 
however  secular  their  habits,  could  not  but  feel  that 
they  were  addressed  by  one  intimately  conversant  with 
life  and  manners  :  they  could  not  evade  the  force  of 
his  arguments  and  lessons,  by  ascribing  them  to  the 
ignorance  or  austerity  of  their  instructor :  they  could 
not  but  perceive  in  his  delineations  of  character,  a 
faithful  mirror,  in  which  their  own  modes  of  thinking 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXI 

and  acting  were  exhibited  to  the  life ;  nor  could  they 
be  insensible  to  the  value  of  warnings  and  of  counsels, 
in  which  the  acuteness  of  the  man  of  liberal  ideas  and 
of  general  observation,  was  blended  with  the  wisdom 
of  the  moralist,  and  the  sanctity  of  the  Christian  and 
the  Divine. 

To  causes  such  as  these,  accordingly,  we  are  to 
ascribe  the  high  place  which  Dr.  Thomson  acquired 
and  held  in  the  estimation  of  the  religious  public  of 
Edinburgh.  Nor,  in  any  review  of  the  religious  his- 
tory of  the  period,  will  the  deserved  fame  of  Dr. 
Thomson  be  overlooked,  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the 
revived  taste  for  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel 
which  has  happily  characterized  Edinburgh  for  the  last 
fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

But  Dr.  Thomson  was  not  satisfied  with  merely 
preaching  the  gospel.  For  many  years  after  his  ap- 
pointment to  St.  George's,  he  employed  the  interval 
between  the  forenoon  and  afternoon  services,  in  cate- 
chising the  young  belonging  to  the  congregation  :  and 
this  exercise  he  performed  in  a  manner  that  had  the 
effect,  in  an  uncommon  degree,  of  uniting  to  him  the 
hearts  both  of  parents  and  children. 

Among  the  excellent  practices  recommended  by  the 
standards  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  by  the 
example  of  the  best  of  her  ministers  in  her  purest 
times,  is  that  of  week-day  meetings  in  the  church,  for 
the  purpose  of  instruction  in  the  principles  of  religion, 
as  these  are  taught  in  the  Shorter  Catechism.  To 
attendance  on  such  meetings  in  a  city  like  Edinburgh 
some  practical  objections  have  been  raised ;  and  with 
a  view  to  obviate  these,  Dr.  Thomson  instituted  a  lee- 


XXn  MEMOIR    OF 

ture,  in  which,  without  placing  any  one  in  the  trying 
situation  of  a  catechumen,  he  made  use  of  a  question 
in  the  catechism  by  way  of  text ;  and  explaining  and 
illustrating  it  in  a  manner  adapted  to  all  capacities,  he 
went  over  the  ground  usually  traversed  in  these  exer- 
cises. For  several  years  he  continued  these  w^eek-day 
expositions,  during  a  limited  period  of  the  summer 
months,  and  was  only  induced  to  relinquish  them,  in 
consequence  of  repeated  and  alarming  attacks  of  indis- 
position, which  taught  him  the  necessity  of  imposing  a 
restraint  upon  the  otherwise  unwearied  zeal  of  his  active 
and  benevolent  mind. 

In  the  youth  of  his  congregation.  Dr.  Thomson,  as 
we  have  observed,  took  a  w^arm  and  affectionate 
interest.  In  his  parish,  he  found  there  were  many  of 
this  class  whom  his  Sabbath  instructions  could  not 
reach — young  persons  who  either  did  not  attend  his 
church,  or  whose  circumstances  and  those  of  their 
parents  rendered  a  greater  degree  of  tuition  necessary, 
than  it  was  possible  to  afford  them  on  the  Lord's  day. 
To  meet  their  case,  accordingly.  Dr.  Thomson  pro- 
jected a  week-day  school.  His  influence  enabled  him 
speedily  to  raise  the  funds  requisite  for  the  erection  of 
a  suitable  school-house ;  and  the  facility  with  which  he 
could  adapt  himself  to  the  operations  of  benevolence, 
enabled  him  to  carry  into  effect  the  other  means  neces- 
sary to  the  completion  of  his  plan.  As  his  experience 
in  the  task  of  instructing  the  young  of  his  congregation 
had  shown  him  how  much  could  be  done  with  young 
people,  by  addressing  their  understanding  and  their 
affections,  he  undertook  at  once  to  compile  suitable 
books  for  the  different  classes  into  which  the  school  was 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXlll 

divided,  and  for  a  time  to  act  as  teacher  and  superin- 
tendent in  the  school.  Far  from  despising  what  to 
other  minds  would  have  appeared  to  be  drudgery, 
regarding  it  indeed  with  fondness,  and  entering  into  it 
with  his  whole  heart,  he  spent  entire  days  in  teaching 
the  children  of  the  lower  classes  of  his  parish  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  education  and  religion,  and  passed 
from  the  school-house  to  his  study,  only  to  prosecute 
the  other  department  of  his  labor  of  love ;  and,  amid 
the  humble  toils  of  an  author  of  first  books  for  children, 
to  lose  sight  of  those  more  inviting  objects  of  ambition, 
after  which  a  mind  like  his  might  have  been  expected 
exclusively  to  aspire. 

From  nature  he  had  received  an  exquisite  ear  and 
taste  for  music  ;  and,  upon  the  principle  of  consecrating 
all  the  gifts  of  nature  to  the  service  of  his  Master,  he 
undertook  a  reformation  of  that  part  of  the  devotional 
service  of  the  sanctuary  which  consists  of  praise.  To 
him,  in  a  great  measure,  are  to  be  traced  the  recent 
improvements  that  have  been  effected  in  the  psalmody 
of  several  churches  in  this  city.  His  own  church  set 
the  example;  and  for  their  use,  and  the  better  to 
accomplish  his  object,  he  drew  up  a  collection  of  the 
most  approved  psalm  tunes,  all  of  which  he  carefully 
revised ;  and  to  which  he  added  several  original  com- 
positions, and  a  few  of  great  beauty  of  his  own.  It 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  record,  that  but  a  few 
weeks  before  his  death,  he  issued  a  circular,  addressed 
to  the  members  of  his  congregation,  renewing  his 
affectionate  admonitions  on  the  subject  of  church  music, 
which  he  justly  regarded  as  an  expression  of  piety,  and 
a  help  to  devotion. 


XXIV  MEMOIR    OF 

Nor  were  his  private  labors  less  abundant.  Great 
as  he  was  in  the  public  sphere  of  his  exertions,  it  may- 
be questioned  whether  he  did  not  appear  even  to  more 
advantage  in  the  less  noticed  walks  of  pastoral  visitation 
among  the  families  of  his  flock.  His  breast,  naturally- 
full  of  kindness,  expatiated,  as  in  a  congenial  sphere, 
while  he  sat  by  the  sick-bed  of  those  who  looked  to 
him  for  consolation,  or  directed  the  hopes  of  the 
bereaved  and  the  dying  to  the  land  of  promise  and  of 
rest.  They  who  knew  him  only  as  he  appeared  in  the 
field  of  controversy,  or  on  the  high  places  of  debate,  or 
even  in  "the  great  congregation,"  where  he  poured 
forth  "words  that  breathed  and  thoughts  that  burned," 
and  held  attention  chained,  till  conviction  came  and 
owned  his  power,  can  scarcely  imagine  the  air  of  ten- 
derness and  unaffected  brotherhood  and  sympathy,  that 
pervaded  his  look  and  manner,  in  the  more  private 
offices  of  pastoral  intercourse  with  the  afflicted.  It  had 
pleased  Providence  often  to  try  him  during  the  course 
of  his  ministry :  his  mind,  naturally  full  of  affection  and 
sensibility,  had  undergone  a  variety  of  discipline.  From 
what  he  himself  had  felt,  therefore,  as  well  as  from 
what  his  friendly  heart  could  imagine,  he  entered  with 
lively  interest  into  all  the  causes  of  inquietude  or  suf- 
fering, under  which  any  of  his  flock  might  be  laboring. 
To  none  could  the  sorrowful  more  freely  unburden 
their  griefs  ;  from  none  could  the  perplexed  and  fear- 
ful more  confidently  ask  advice ;  and  on  none  could 
the  young  and  the  inexperienced  more  certainly  calcu- 
late for  sympathy  in  their  anxieties,  and  assistance  in 
regard  to  the  objects  they  had  in  view.     And  while 


DR.    THOMPSON.  XXV 


thus  to  those  who  knew  him,  (and  who,  if  had  they 
chosen,  might  not  have  known  him  ?)  he  was  a  brother 
and  a  friend,  all  that  he  did  was  conceived  in  a  spirit, 
and  marked  by  a  manner  of  most  perfect  unafFected- 
ness.  In  his  kindness  there  was  nothing  like  effect ; 
nothing  like  exaggeration ;  nothing  that  bore  the 
remotest  resemblance  to  acting.  Nature  reigned  in  all 
his  words  and  deeds  ;  and  his  whole  conduct  left  on  the 
mind  the  impression  only  of  genuine,  unpretending 
friendship.  There  was  a  manliness,  too,  in  his  kind- 
ness which  was  in  strict  keeping  with  the  other  parts 
of  his  character,  and  which  helped  to  heighten  the 
impression  of  reality  produced  by  the  general  tone  of 
his  intercourse.  It  was  the  same  man  who  in  other 
circumstances  could  lighten,  and  agitate,  and  hold  im- 
perial sway  over  the  passions  of  the  most  crowded 
meeting,  who  sat  beside  you  as  a  friend,  and  addressed 
you  in  the  words  and  accents  of  undissembled  interest 
and  regard. 

But  it  was  not  merely  as  a  parish  minister,  perform- 
ing the  full  round  of  ordinary  pastoral  duty,  that  Dr. 
Thomson  was  remarkable.  As  a  minister  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  he  was  a  member  of  her  judicato- 
ries, and  entrusted  with  the  functions  of  an  adminis- 
trator of  her  laws.  Justly  conceiving  every  part  of  his 
duty  to  have  a  claim  upon  him,  and  appreciating  the  ben- 
eficial influence  which  his  situation  enabled  him  to  exert 
on  the  interests  of  the  establishment  and  of  Christianity, 
he  appeared  regularly  in  his  place  in  church  courts,  and 
took  on  him  a  large  proportion  of  the  burden  of  the 
business  that  came  before  these  assemblies.  Indeed,  for 
the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  such  was  his  acquaintance 
3 


XXVI  MEMOIR    OF 

with  form,  such  his  aptitude  in  the  application  of  prece- 
dents and  statutes,  such  his  ability  and  eloquence  in  de- 
bate, and  such  the  estimation  in  which  his  opinions  and 
character  were  held,  that  that  party  in  the  church  to 
which  he  was  conscientiously  attached,  and  which  must 
always  regard  it  as  not  the  least  of  its  distinctions  and 
recommendations  to  have  numbered  him  among  its 
adherents,  spontaneously,  and  by  silent  consent,  looked 
up  to  him  as  its  leader. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  detail,  otherwise  it  would  be 
easy  to  record   numerous   instances  of  the   zeal   and 
effect  with  which  he  maintained  the  ancient  struggle  of 
the  church  against  the  inroads  of  a  debasing  and  secu- 
larizing policy.      In    every   question   of  principle    he 
espoused  the  side  of  truth  and  justice,  in  opposition  to 
the  maxims  of  expediency ;  a  regard  to  which,  where 
there  exists  a  definite  moral  rule  of  conduct,  he  justly 
regarded  as  the  bane  of  churches  and  of  public  institu- 
tions.    With  admiration,  mingled  with  aftectionate  re- 
gret, many  of  the  readers  of  this  sketch  will  recal  the 
triumphs  of  his  eloquence  on  the  highest  theatre  of  its 
display — the  General  Assembly ;  and  will  accompany 
the  recollection  with  a  profound  feeling  of  gratitude  to 
the  man   who  so  often  lifted  up  his  intrepid  voice,  in 
tones  that  found  an  echo  in  every  parish  in  Scotland, 
against  the  power  that  would  thrust  upon  a  people  hun- 
gering for  the  bread  of  life,  a  heartless  and  unqualified 
pastor;    who  fearlessly  stood   forth  the  champion  of 
resistance  to  the  mandates  of  unauthorized  dictation 
and  intrusive  influence ;  and  who,  with  an  energy  and 
eloquence  all  his  own,  repudiated  and  denounced  that 
union  of  secular  with  ecclesiastical  offices,  by  which 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXVU 

the  sacredness  of  the  pastoral  character  is  deteriorated, 
and  the  unity  of  the  pastoral  obligation  is  violated.  If 
to  him  the  church  be  not  indebted  for  a  return  to  the 
principles  and  practices  by  which  she  was  character- 
ized in  the  days  when,  purified  by  persecution,  she 
stood  first  among  the  churches  of  the  Reformation — to 
him,  and  to  the  kindred  labors  of  our  Erskines  and  our 
MoncriefFs,  whose  mantle  he  had  caught,  does  she  in  a 
great  measure  owe  the  remembrance  of  these  princi- 
ples and  practices.  By  his  exertions,  in  no  inconsider- 
able degree,  the  ancient  landmarks  of  our  ecclesiastical 
constitution  have  been  kept  prominently  in  view;  a 
desire  for  something  better  than  the  existing  order  of 
things  has  been  preserved  and  transmitted ;  the  watch- 
words of  primitive  order  and  popular  rights  have  been 
dignified  and  hallowed  by  an  association  with  a  mighty 
name ;  and  a  prospect  has  been  opened  to  the  hopes 
of  the  church  of  brighter  days,  and  of  "  times  of  re- 
freshing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord." 

But  while  he  was  thus,  firmly,  and  on  principle, 
identified  with  a  particular  party  in  the  church,  few 
men  displayed  in  private  life  less  of  the  narrow  and 
exclusive  spirit  of  party.  His  attachment  to  principles 
he  bore  with  him  everywhere :  but  the  animosity  and 
grudging,  which  are  apt  to  cleave  to  minds  of  a  secon- 
dary order,  were  strangers  to  his  bosom  ;  and  with  the 
men  with  whom  he  entered  into  keenest  conflict  on  the 
arena  of  debate,  he  could  meet  on  terms  of  the  most 
unhesitating  good  will  when  the  struggle  was  over, 
willing  to  exchange  with  them  all  the  courtesies  of  social 
intercourse,  or  to  co-operate  with  them  in  any  good 
work  in  which  they  might  require  his  aid,  or  solicit  his 


XXVni  MEMOIR    OF 

countenance.  His  was  a  mind  that  spurned  the  base- 
ness of  smothered  resentment.  He  knew  nothing  of 
the  creeping  feeling  that  is  "  willing  to  wound,  but  yet 
afraid  to  strike."  What  he  felt  he  expressed  strongly 
and  boldly;  and  if  a  brother  felt  aggrieved,  none  was 
more  forward  than  he  to  make  allowance  for  the  ex- 
pression of  irritated  feeling;  or  if,  in  a  hasty  moment, 
he  had  given  undesigned  cause  of  offence,  none  was 
more  prompt  in  making  reparation.  If  he  was  a  for- 
midable, his  opponents  will  allow,  that  he  was  also  an 
open,  and  a  generous  antagonist. 

As  a  minister  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  he  was 
deeply  and  conscientiously  attached  to  her  institutions 
and  her  interests.  But  because,  as  a  churchman,  he 
walked  about  our  Zion,  and  went  round  about  her, 
telling  her  towers,  admiring  her  palaces,  and  employing 
all  his  energies  in  the  defence  of  her  bulwarks,  his  was 
not  that  exclusive  and  churlish  spirit  which  saw  nothing 
but  barrenness  beyond  the  enclosure,  within  which 
Providence  had  cast  his  lot.  He  mingled  freely  and 
cordially  with  dissenters  of  all  descriptions,  in  whom  he 
could  trace  the  characters  of  genuine  Christianity.  The 
strength  of  his  own  convictions,  as  a  churchman,  only 
gave  him  a  stronger  sympathy  in  the  conscientious  con- 
victions of  the  persons  who  differed  from  him.  He  felt 
too,  that  the  cause  he  had  embraced,  was  in  no  danger 
from  any  compliances  which,  on  the  ground  of  good 
feeling,  or  social  observance,  he  might  be  induced  to 
make.  Above  all,  he  felt  that  the  differences  between 
the  great  bodies  of  dissenters  in  this  country,  and  the 
church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  bore  no  proportion 
to  the  bond  which  unites  Christians  of  every  name  in 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXIX 

the  fellowship  of  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  haptism,  one 
God  and  Father  of  all."  That  alone  which  repelled 
him  in  a  dissenting  brother,  was  a  display  on  the  part 
of  that  brother  of  the  qualities  which  he  himself  ab- 
horred, and  of  which  no  trace,  to  an  unprejudiced  eye, 
could  be  discovered  in  his  conduct. 

Although  it  was  impossible  that  a  mind  like  his  could 
be  indifferent  to  anything  that  concerned  the  well-being 
of  his  country,  he  took  no  public  share  in  party  poli- 
tics. That  he  had  decided  views  on  all  the  important 
questions  that  divided  the  political  world  during  the 
eventful  period  in  which  he  lived,  is  certainly  true ; 
and  that  in  private,  or  on  any  occasion  in  which  his 
duty  as  a  member  of  ecclesiastical  courts  called  for  the 
expression  of  his  opinion,  he  was  ready  to  express  that 
opinion  frankly  and  fearlessly,  is  equally  true  :  but  to 
his  honor,  it  is  to  be  recorded,  that  with  a  mind  pe- 
culiarly awake  to  whatever  involved  the  interests  or  the 
fame  of  his  country,  and  with  talents  that  pecuHarly 
fitted  him  for  maintaining  the  first  place  in  all  discus- 
sions of  a  public  and  exciting  nature,  so  strong  was  his 
sense  of  the  sacredness  of  the  ministerial  character,  and 
so  ready  was  he  to  sink  all  inferior  or  individual  con- 
siderations in  a  regard  to  the  solemn  interests  that  were 
suspended  on  his  relation  to  his  flock,  that  he  uniformly 
stood  aloof  from  scenes  of  political  contention,  and  be- 
queathed, in  his  example,  an  instructive  illustration  of 
the  power  of  religious  principle  in  enforcing  self-denial, 
as  to  things  in  themselves  lawful,  but  which  in  certain 
circumstances  may  not  be  expedient.  Yet  while  such 
was  the  enlightened  principle  by  which  he  was  guided, 
it  were  a  sacrifice  of  truth  not  to  add,  that  his  forbear- 
*3 


XXX  MEMOIR    OP 

ance  did  not  always  meet  the  award  it  deserved.  With 
a  certain  class  of  minds,  nothing  but  perfect,  uninquir- 
ing,  unhesitating  acquiescence  in  all  the  dogmas  they 
may  happen  to  have  adopted,  is  regarded  with  favor  ; 
and  to  minds  of  this  description,  the  manly,  independent 
views  of  Dr.  Thomson,  were  peculiarly  unpalatable. 
Had  he  been  an  ordinary  man,  they  might,  without 
remark,  have  suffered  him  to  pursue  the  course  his 
conscience  dictated,  even  had  that  course  led  him  to 
mingle  deeply  in  the  strifes  of  party.  But  for  such  a 
man  not  to  be  with  them,  was,  in  their  eyes,  a  crime 
of  scarcely  less  magnitude  than  to  be  against  them. 
Perhaps,  too,  there  mingled  in  the  asperity  with  which 
they  were  disposed  to  regard  him,  an  unconscious  con- 
viction, that,  think  what  they  would,  and  say  what  they 
might,  he  was  able  to  bear  it  all.  But  whatever  was 
their  motive,  and  however  mixed  that  motive  might  be, 
certain  it  is,  it  had  the  effect  of  exposing  his  conduct 
on  some  occasions  to  unjustifiable  misconstruction;  and 
on  others  to  a  degree  of  censure  and  animadversion,"  on 
which,  it  is  possible  the  parties  concerned  now  look 
back  with  sincere,  though,  as  it  relates  to  him,  unavail- 
ing regret. 

In  addition  to  the  interest  which  he  felt  and  mani- 
fested in  whatever  was  connected  with  his  duty  as  a 
minister,  he  took  upon  him  a  large  share  of  the  man- 
agement of  the  city  charities  and  of  those  public  institu- 
tions which  have  for  their  object  the  alleviation  of  the 
temporal  wants  or  of  the  spiritual  miseries  of  mankind. 
He  was  ever  ready  at  the  call  of  the  public,  either  to 
act  as  a  director  of  its  various  societies,  or  to  plead 
their  cause  from  the  pulpit.     And  this  co-operation  on 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXXI 

his  part  with  all  that  was  benevolent  and  useful,  was 
rendered  with  a  cordiality  and  a  cheerfulness,  that  put 
the  idea  of  obligation  out  of  sight;  and  invited  new 
and  increasing  demands  on  his  leisure  and  attention. 

From  this  principle  of  benevolent  interest  in  the 
religious  institutions  of  the  country,  sprang  the  part  he 
so  prominently  took,  in  the  recent  discussions  to  which 
certain  well  known  proceedings  of  the  directors  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  have  unhappily  given 
rise.  From  the  commencement  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  he  entered  warmly  into  its 
views.  With  the  great  body  of  the  Christian  public,  he 
regarded  its  institution  as  an  era  in  the  history  of  the 
church  of  Christ ;  he  saw  in  it  a  mighty  instrument  of 
enlightened  philanthropy ;  and  he  hailed  it  as  a  presage 
of  the  predicted  glory  of  the  latter  days.  When  it  was 
struggling  for  existence  against  the  calumnies  and 
attacks  of  mistaken  and  narrow-minded  zeal,  he  fought 
its  battles  :  and  with  justice  he  was  esteemed  one  of  its 
warmest  friends  and  ablest  advocates.  Unhappily,  how- 
ever, when  war  had  ceased  w  ithout,  the  elements  of  a 
more  fatal  convulsion  began  to  gather  and  to  show 
themselves  within.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  con- 
fiding friends  of  the  institution,  it  was  demonstrated, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  dispute,  that  while,  according 
to  the  leading  principle  of  the  Society,  the  Bible,  with- 
out note  or  comment,  was  the  only  book  which  its 
directors  were  empowered  to  circulate,  its  funds  were 
applied  to  the  printing  and  circulation  of  a  Bible  un- 
known to  the  protestants  of  this  country — a  Bible  in 
which  the  writings  known  by  the  name  of  "  the  Apoc- 
rypha," were  mixed  up,  and  put  on  a  level  with  those 


XXXll  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Scriptures  which  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  discovery  came  upon 
the  Christian  public  with  the  force  of  a  thunderbolt. 
All  confidence  in  men,  or  in  the  most  solemn  protesta- 
tions and  professions,  seemed  to  be  at  an  end ;  and  the 
first  impulse,  on  the  part  of  all  who  gave  the  subject 
an  unbiassed  consideration,  was  to  demand  not  only 
that  there  should  be  an  immediate  return  to  the  pri- 
mary principle  of  the  Society,  but  that  its  management 
should  no  longer  be  committed  to  men  who  had  shown 
themselves  incapable  of  being  bound  by  what  appeared 
the  strongest  obligations  of  Christian  principle  and 
moral  feeling.  Here  it  had  been  well,  if  first  impres- 
sions had  been  consulted.  To  many  of  the  friends  of 
the  institution,  however,  the  Bible  Society  had  been  so 
long  identified  with  the  Bible  which  it  professed  to  cir- 
culate, that  the  idea  of  abandoning  it,  seemed  fraught 
with  hazard  to  the  best  interests  and  hopes  of  Chris- 
tianity. When,  therefore,  the  directors  of  the  Society, 
instead  of  listening  to  the  remonstrances  that  were  ad- 
dressed to  them  from  all  quarters,  and  especially  from 
tlie  friends  of  the  Society  in  Edinburgh,  attempted  to 
justify  their  conduct,  on  the  pretext  of  an  alleged  am- 
biguity in  the  terms  in  which  the  object  of  the  institu- 
tion was  expressed,  and  even  on  the  ground  of  expe- 
diency, many  of  those  with  whom  Dr.  Thomson  had 
previously  associated,  withdrew  their  testimony  against 
tlie  proceedings  in  question,  expressed  satisfaction  with 
certain  half-measures  to  which  the  directors  pledged 
themselves  for  the  future,  and  intimated  an  earnest 
anxiety  that  all  farther  allusion  to  the  past  should  be 
dropped.    To  the  ardent  mind  of  Dr.  Thomson,  such  a 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXXIU 

course,  whether  on  the  part  of  the  directors  in  London, 
or  of  their  friends  in  Edinburgh,  seemed  nothing  short 
of  a  derehction  of  the  first  duty  which  man  owes  to  the 
gracious  Being  who,  in  giving  us  a  revelation  of  his  will, 
has  entrusted  us  with  a  talent  which  we  can  never  do 
enough  to  guard  from  injury,  and  to  preserve  untarnished 
and  entire  as  it  reached  us  from  his  hands.  With  his  char- 
acteristic energy,  he  enlisted  himself  on  the  side  of  what 
he  conceived,  and  rightly  conceived,  to  be  the  cause  both 
of  God  and  man ;  and  summoning  the  resources  of  his 
powerful  mind  to  the  task,  he  devoted  many  of  the  days 
and  nights  of  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  following  the 
misjudging  adherents  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  through  the  maze  of  misrepresentation  and 
sophistry,  into  which  their  short-sighted  policy  or  ob- 
sequious predilections  had  plunged  them.  In  this 
labor,  worthy  of  a  mind  devoted,  in  the  face  of  good 
report  and  of  bad  report,  to  the  service  of  God,  but 
from  which  a  mind  cast  in  a  less  firm  mould  would 
have  shrunk,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  carrying  with 
him  the  convictions  and  the  suffrages  of  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  Scotland.  Yet,  if  for  a  moment  he 
dreamed  that  the  path  on  which  he  had  entered  was 
level  and  smooth,  he  was  speedily  destined  to  learn  his 
mistake.  Reproaches  and  misrepresentations  assailed 
him  from  quarters  whence  he  had  the  least  reason  to  ex- 
pect them.  Some  of  the  persons  who  had  stood  by  his 
side  at  the  commencement  of  the  conflict,  and  who  had 
rendered  themselves  conspicuous  by  the  forwardness 
of  their  zeal,  if  not  by  the  soundness  of  their  discretion, 
thought  fit  to  desert  him  ;  and  others,  on  whose  coun- 
tenance and  aid  he  might  reasonably  have  calculated, 


XXXIV  MEMOIR    OP 

looked  coldly  on,  and  chafed  his  spirit,  if  they  could 
not  sour  his  temper,  or  damp  his  exertions,  by  the  tone 
of  their  advice.* 

It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  the  effect  produced  upon 
Dr.  Thomson's  mind,  by  the  manner  in  which  some  of 
the  leading  advocates  of  the  directors  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  conducted  their  share,  of  v^hat 
has  been  called  "  The  Apocryphal  Controversy,"  made 
an  impression  on  his  health.  Naturally  of  a  more  than 
usually  robust  constitution,  he  was  capable  of  under- 
going great  fatigues ;  nor  was  his  temper  of  that  sen- 
sitive and  morbid  character  which  dwells  upon  imag- 
ined injuries,  or  exaggerates  petty  slights  into  serious 
wrongs.  Still  the  personal  tone  which  the  controversy 
assumed  in  the  hands  of  persons  who,  in  the  absence  of 
argument,  had  recourse  to  recrimination  and  insult, 
combined  with  the  sleepless  nights  and  busy  days  which 
the  part  he  had  undertaken  imposed  on  him,  silently 
wore  dov/n  the  strength  of  his  constitution,  and  pre- 
pared it  for  yielding  to  that  blow,  unexpected  perhaps 
by  all  but  himself,  which  put  a  perpetual  period  to  his 
labors  and  anxieties.  Nothing,  however,  while  life 
remained,  was  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
exertions  in  behalf  of  his  flock  or  of  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity at  large.     While  suffering  from  symptoms  of  the 

*  Yet,  "  Raro  eminentes  viri  non  magnis  adjutoribus  usisuntj  ut  duo 
Scipiones,  duobus  Laeliis,  quos  per  omnia  sequaverunt  sibi;  ut  Divus 
Augustus  M.  Agrippa  5" — and  the  truth  of  this  remark  of  the  Roman  his- 
torian, Dr.  Thomson  had  the  good  fortune  to  experience  in  the  friendly 
and  efficient  co-operation  of  many  good  and  able  men — and  of  none  which 
the  friends  of  the  Bible  cause  have  reason  more  highly  to  value,  than  that 
of  Robert  Haldane,  Esquire,  to  whose  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  great 
object  which  Dr.  Thomson  had  at  heart,  it  would  be  injustice  not  to 
advert. 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXXV 

most  depressing  description,  he  was  always  at  his  post, 
ready  with   his  pen,  or  with  the  still  more   effective 
instrumentality  of  his  living  voice,  to  forward  the  inter- 
ests of  pure   and   undefiled  religion.     In   a  state   of 
health,  which,  to  most  men,  would  have  furnished  an 
irresistible  plea  for  seclusion  from  the  excitement  of 
public  business,  he  paid  a  visit  to  London ;  where,  if 
he  did  little  to  place  the  ground  of  controversy  between 
the   two   societies   of  London   and  Edinburgh  in  its 
proper  light,  before  the  religious  public  of  the  metrop- 
olis, the  failure  is  to  be  ascribed  to  some   other  cause 
than  a  deficiency  of  zeal,  of  exertion,  or  of  eloquence 
on  his  part.     Inconsiderable  as  was  his  success  in  the 
metropolis,  he  had  at  least  the  satisfaction  of  doing  all 
that  was  in  his  power,  to  bring  the  cause  of  the  integ- 
rity of  divine  truth  to  an  issue,  in  that  quarter  where 
it  was  most  desirable  that  the  question  should  be  fairly 
heard  and  tried. 

It  is  but  justice,  however,  to  the  opponents  of  the 
cause  in  which  Dr.  Thomson  was  embarked,  to  say, 
that  while  his  labors,  and  those  of  his  associates  in  the 
cause  of  pure  Bible  circulation,  failed  of  the  grand 
object  in  view,  they  were  not  altogether  destitute  of 
success.  While  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  abettors  of  conjoint  Bible  and  Apocryphal 
circulation,  on  any  principle  that  will  entirely  save 
them  from  an  imputation,  unfavorable  to  the  soundness 
of  their  moral  perceptions,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  that 
the  best  of  men  are  not  exempt  from  serious  fraihies ; 
that  in  some  minds  there  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  natural 
deficiency  of  moral  tact,  which  nothing  can  entirely 
supply ;  and  that  in  others,  a  deficiency  of  the  same 


XXXVl  MEMOIR    OF 

sort  is  liable  to  be  induced,  by  habits  of  deference  to 
authority,  or  of  judging  of  the  morality  of  actions  by  a 
reference  to  their  consequences.  On  principles  such 
as  these,  we  are  to  account  for  the  conduct  of  many  of 
the  official  personages  intrusted  with  the  management 
of  the  funds  and  operations  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society ;  and  to  explain  their  blindness  to  the 
serious  error  in  point  of  principle,  and  the  no  less 
serious  mischief  in  point  of  consequences,  involved  in 
their  departure  from  the  primary  law  of  the  institution ; 
and  the  pertinacity  with  which  they  still  seem  willing  to 
adhere  to  their  mistaken  policy,  in  spite  of  the  warn- 
ings and  remonstrances  which  have  been  addressed  to 
them.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that,  in  the  hearts  of  many 
even  of  those  who  seem  resolute  in  error,  the  love  of 
the  Bible  is  really  seated  ;  and  to  this  cause  we  are 
wiUing  to  ascribe  the  disposition,  tardy  and  reluctant  as 
it  was,  to  compromise  the  question  at  issue  between 
them  and  their  antagonists  in  the  north.  And,  though 
in  such  a  case  as  that  in  which  the  honor  and  integrity 
of  the  divine  word  are  involved,  anything  short  of  a 
return  to  the  principle,  of  giving  no  countenance,  direct 
or  indirect,  to  a  corruption  of  the  sacred  volume,  must 
be  regarded  as  less  than  the  obligations  of  duty  demand, 
still  we  are  not  to  overlook  any  approximation  to  the 
principle,  nor  be  unwilling  to  recognize  in  it  the  pre- 
sage of  better  things  in  time  to  come,  when  the  heats 
of  excited  feeling  are  allayed,  and  the  lights  of  experi- 
ence are  brought  to  bear  on  a  subject  darkened  by  the 
contentions  of  rival  opinions.  To  such  an  issue,  des- 
pite of  many  discouraging  appearances,  we  doubt  not, 
things  are  rapidly  tending.     It  were  to  despair  of  the 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXXVU 

triumph  of  truth  and  righteousness,  to  imagine  that  the 
controversy  between  the  London  and  Edinburgh  Soci- 
eties could  always  remain  as  it  is.  Time  alone  is  re- 
quired to  inform  the  public  mind  of  the  nature  and  im- 
portance of  the  objects  at  stake,  in  order  to  work  a 
change  on  the  feeling  of  the  people  of  England  with 
regard  to  it.  We  have  but  to  look  a  little  way  into  the 
future  to  see  the  clouds  that  at  present  hang  over  the 
part  taken  by  the  several  combatants  cleared  away; 
the  cause  of  divine  truth  vindicated  ;  the  asperities  pro- 
duced in  the  course  of  the  discussion  forgiven  and  for- 
gotten ;  and  some  of  the  very  men  who  have  been  most 
wedded  to  false  principles,  and  a  mistaken  policy, 
hastening  to  repair  their  error,  by  doing  justice  to  the 
characters  of  those  by  whom  that  error  was  first  pointed 
out,  and  by  returning  to  the  broad  highway  of  "  sim- 
plicity and  godly  sincerity,"  from  which  it  had  been 
happy  they  had  never  departed.  Till  this  desirable 
consummation  arrive,  the  friends  of  the  purity  of  the 
divine  record  must  pursue  their  path  alone,  satisfied 
that  while  they  keep  the  honor  of  the  God  of  truth  in 
view,  they  are  following  a  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud,  which 
cannot  mislead,  and  will  not  forsake  them.* 

*  Since  these  lines  were  written,  tlie  Britisli  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
has  held  its  annual  meeting  for  1831.  And,  however  little  the  proceedings 
of  that  meeting  may  be  calculated  to  encourage  hopes  founded  on  the  good 
sense,  or  Christian  feeling  of  the  directors,  thej^  open  a  gratifying  prospect 
in  another  quarter.  A  reaction  in  the  public  mind  can  scarcely  fail  to  be 
the  consequence  of  such  glaring  indiscretion,  and  such  culpable  indifference 
to  all  that  is  distinctive  in  Christian  principle  and  Christian  character,  as 
are  displayed  by  the  resolutions  finally  agreed  to  at  the  meeting.  Already, 
unequivocal  symptoms  of  this  reaction  have  begun  to  appear  5  in  proof  of 
which  we  need  only  refer  to  the  proceedings  of  the  last  annual  meetino-  of 
the  London  Naval  and  Military  Bible  Society,  at  which  the  resolution, 
negatived  only  the  week  before  at  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 

4 


XXXVlll  MEMOIR    OF 

The  manner  in  which  Dr.  Thomson  managed  his 
share  in  this  controversy  must  not  be  passed  in  silence. 
It  was  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  that  he  entered  into 
the  controversy :  he  brought  all  his  powers  to  aid  him 
in  doing  justice  to  it;  and  for  a  time  at  least,  his  whole 
mind  and  time  were  absorbed  in  it.  In  the  object  con- 
tended for,  he  beheld  a  principle  at  stake,  which,  as  a 
Christian,  a^  protestant,  and  a  minister,  he  was  bound 
to  vindicate  and  maintain.  It  was  not  merely  whether 
certain  funds  had  been  wisely  or  imprudently  applied ; 
whether  certain  individuals,  to  whom  the  public  had 
been  taught  to  look  up  with  confidence,  had  been  faith- 
ful to  their  trust;  whether  a  less  degree  of  good  had 
been  done,  than  the  world,  who  heard  of  the  operations 
of  the  society,  had  been  led  to  imagine.  Important  as 
these  considerations  were,  they  were  not  the  questions 
which  especially  struck  his  mind,  in  the  discoveries 
which  accident  had  made,  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
directors  and  agents  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society.  In  the  conduct  of  the  society,  as  represented 
by  these  individuals,  he  beheld  the  grand  leading  prin- 
ciples of  morality  and  religion  placed  in  jeopardy.  He 
saw  the  marked  line  of  separation,  which  the  Divine 
Being  has  drawn  between  his  word  and  the  imaginations 
of  his  fallible  creatures,  trodden  down,  and,  so  far  as 
the  operations  of  the  society  on  the  continent  were 
concerned,  in  danger  of  being  obliterated  :  He  saw  the 

•was  carried  by  an  overpowering  majority.  Will  sucli  a  fact  as  this  have 
no  wciglit  with  the  directors  of  the  last  mentioned  Society  5  or,  unwarned 
and  untaught,  will  they  pursue  their  headlong  career,  till,  deserted  by  all 
the  genuine  friends  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  they  find 
themselves  alone,  in  melancholy  fellowship  with  Arians,  Socinians,  and 
Freethinkers,  the  dregs  and  the  refuse  of  nominal  Christianity  ? 


DR.    THOMSON.  XXXIX 

broad  seal  of  heaven  wrested  from  the  page  on  which 
it  had  been  impressed  by  the  finger  of  God,  and  placed 
unscrupulously,  and  without  discrimination,  on  lying 
legends  and  on  "  the  true  sayings  of  God."  In  all 
this,  he  beheld  an  object  fitted  to  awaken  all  the  energy 
of  a  mind  trained  to  tremble  at  the  Divine  Word,  to 
rouse  into  indignant  and  irrepressible  feeling  all  the 
sensibilities  of  a  soul  that  was  "very  jealous  for  the 
Lord  God  of  Hosts." 

It  is  easy  for  those  whom  providence  has  destined  to 
dull  mediocrity,  by  the  constitutional  slowness  of  their 
apprehensions,  or  the  coldness  of  their  feehngs,  to  per- 
ceive, in  the  ardor  with  which  Dr.  Thomson  prosecuted 
his  task  of  exposing  and  rebuking  what  he  regarded  as 
criminal  delinquency,  something  to  censure  :  easy  too, 
for  those  who  have  never  mingled  in  the  strife  of 
"  earnest  contending  for  the  faith  once  deliv^ered  to  the 
saints,"  but  have  satisfied  themselves  with  looking  on,  from 
the  seclusion  of  their  study,  at  the  shock  of  arms,  and  the 
alternations  of  the  battle,  to  be  wise  and  charitable  at  the 
expense  of  the  combatants  :  easier  still  for  those,  who 
have  no  sympathy  in  the  object  contended  for,  to  rep- 
robate the  zeal  with  which  the  struggle  for  it  is  main- 
tained. But,  if  we  would  form  a  correct  estimate  of 
the  conduct  of  Dr.  Thomson,  in  relation  to  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  we  must  at  once  possess 
something  of  his  character,  and  find  ourselves  placed 
nearly  in  his  circumstances.  The  very  features  of  his 
character  as  a  controversialist,  which  may  seem  most 
to  require  softening,  w^ere  connected  with  qualities  for 
which  his  memory  deserves  most  to  be  honored,  [f  he 
assumed  a  decided  attitude,  and  made  use  of  strong 


Xl  MEMOIR    OF 

language,  it  was  not  because  he  cared  little  for  the  feel- 
ings, or  was  reckless  of  the  character  of  his  antagonists, 
but  because  his  zeal  for  the  truth  made  him  less  alive 
than  were  the  lukewarm  and  the  timid,  to  the  effect  his 
occasional  warmth  might  have,  on  those  with  whom  a 
sense  of  duty  brought  him  into  collision.  In  a  struggle, 
unusually  protracted,  and  in  which,  on  the  side  of  the 
opposite  party,  in  some  memorable  instances,  not  the 
courtesies  of  debate  merely,  but  the  restraints  of  Chris- 
tian feeling  and  ordinary  decorum  were  violated,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  should  at  times  have 
caught  the  tone  of  his  assailants — that  he  should  occa- 
sionally have  descended  from  the  high  ground  of  prin- 
ciple to  occupy  a  position,  in  which,  though  he  was  not 
less  formidable,  he  appeared  personally  to  less  advan- 
tage— that,  in  short,  like  Luther  and  Calvin,  and  others, 
his  predecessors  in  the  task  of  correcting  great  abuses, 
he  should  occasionally  have  been  tempted  to  forget 
that  "  long  forbearing"  is  sometimes  the  surest  parent 
of  "  persuasion,"  and  that  it  is  "  a  soft  answer"  which 
the  wise  man  tells  us  "  breaketh  the  bone."  If  more 
need  be  said  on  the  subject,  he  himself  has  said  it,*  in 
terms  that  leave  us  only  to  regret  the  close  alliance  of 
great  virtues  with  occasional  errors,  and  which  must 
satisfy  even  those  who  have  least  sympathy  with  the 
workings  of  such  a  nature  as  his,  that  insensibility  to  his 
imperfections  formed  no  feature  of  his  character. 

During  the  course  of  the  winter  preceding  that  in 
which  he  died,  he  composed  and  preached  a  series  of 
discourses  in  reference  to   certain  errors  prevalent  at 

*  Sec  Dr  Tliomson's  speech  at  the  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Bible  Society,  on  the  1st  March,  1830. 


DR.    THOMSON.  xll 

the  time  among  many  sincere,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  though 
mistaken  Christians.  These  discourses  are  before  the 
pubUc ;  and  in  them,  and  in  the  notes  appended  to 
them,  such  as  feel  an  interest  in  the  confutation  of  the 
errors  in  question,  will  find  the  kindred  subjects  of  uni- 
versal pardon,  and  of  personal  assurance  as  essential  to 
the  nature  of  genuine  faith,  discussed  with  much  elo- 
quence and  judgment ;  while  they  who  wish  merely 
to  obtain  clear  and  scriptural  views  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  atonement,  and  of  the  nature  and  workings  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  will  meet  with  much  in  the  volume  to 
reward  a  careful  perusal.  In  many  parts  of  it,  the  au- 
thor, in  addition  to  his  usual  acuteness  in  the  discrim- 
ination of  character,  and  power  of  addressing  himself 
to  the  conscience  and  heart,  displays  an  extent  of  the- 
ological knowledge,  and  a  clearness  of  doctrinal  state- 
ment, of  which  his  preceding  publications  had  not  per- 
haps afforded  such  decided  examples.  His  acquaint- 
ance with  human  nature,  his  dexterity  in  searching  to 
the  bottom  of  it  for  the  remote  springs  of  thought  and 
action,  and  his  happy  faculty  of  disembarrassing  per- 
plexed and  intricate  subjects,  and  of  imparting  a  prac- 
tical interest  to  topics  which,  in  other  hands,  are  apt  to 
appear  scholastic  and  uninviting,  are  also  displayed  to 
great  advantage. 

The  last  great  public  effort  of  Dr.  Thomson  was  in 
behalf  of  the  slave  population  of  our  West  India  colo- 
nies. In  a  note  to  a  sermon  published  in  his  volume 
of  "  Discourses  on  various  Subjects,"  he  had  taken  up 
the  question  of  the  i'cmedial  measures  proposed  in  be- 
half of  that  oppressed  class  of  our  fellow-subjects,  and, 
wnth  his  characteristic  frankness,  declared  himself  an 


Xlii  MEMOIR    OF 

advocate  for  immediate  emancipation.  The  opinion  he 
thus  expressed  was  not  the  result  of  sudden  impulse, 
but  of  a  deliberate  and  well  weighed  consideration  of 
the  subject  of  compulsory  servitude  in  all  its  bearings. 
On  the  one  hand,  he  looked  to  the  principles  of  moral- 
ity and  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  from  them  he  learned 
that  to  hold  a  fellow-creature  in  bondage  is  directly  to 
violate  the  rule  which  dictates  the  same  treatment  of 
our  neighbor  as  we  ourselves  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  him.  And  to  the  mind  of  Dr.  Thomson  it  ap- 
peared no  less  a  crime  to  assume  a  right  of  property 
in  a  man  under  the  tropics,  than  it  would  be  to  transfer 
that  claim  to  the  mother  country,  and  to  extend  it  over 
tliose  who  go  out  and  come  in  among  ourselves. 

And,  if  in  this  conclusion,  at  which,  in  common  with 
all  disinterested  persons,  he  had  arrived,  he  was  forti- 
fied by  an  appeal  to  the  first  principles  of  justice  and 
humanity,  his  convictions  acquired  additional  strength 
when  he  adverted  to  the  evils  which  the  system  of 
slavery  entails  upon  those  by  whom  it  is  upheld,  no  less 
than  upon  those  whose  comfort  and  improvement  it 
more  immediately  affects.  For  some  time  past,  the 
public  has  been  familiar  with  the  complaints  of  the 
planters,  that  their  property  has  fallen  in  value ;  and  the 
least  consideration  of  the  subject  is  sufficient  to  convince 
every  reasonable  mind,  that  the  cause  is  to  be  sought, 
not  in  accidental  circumstances,  but  in  the  system  of 
slavery  itself.  According  to  the  West  India  proprie- 
tors, nothing  can  save  their  property  and  restore  it  to 
its  former  value,  but  a  return  to  the  system  of  absolute 
noninterference  on  the  part  of  this  country  with  their 
treatment  of  their  slaves,  or  perhaps,  as  the  language 


DR.    THOMSON.  xlui 

of  one  of  their  recent  manifestoes  would  seem  to  inti- 
mate, a  renewal  of  the  traffic  in  slaves.  But  for  this 
Great  Britain  obviously  is  not  prepared.  And  if  not, 
are  things  then  to  continue  as  they  are  ?  Can  the  planter 
desire  it  ?  or  will  the  slave  long  permit  it  ?  Colonial 
produce  is  at  present  depreciated  ;  the  colonies  them- 
selves are  not  what  they  were  in  point  of  productive- 
ness ;  a  spirit  of  insubordination  and  misrule  is  preva- 
lent among  the  negroes  :  the  slave  eyes  his  master  with 
the  feeling  of  a  foe,  and  goes  through  his  work  with  the 
langor  and  reluctance  characteristic  of  a  state,  in  which 
the  impulse  of  gratitude  and  the  stimulus  of  hope  are 
unknown.  Some  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  things 
must  be  sought  and  found.  And  Dr.  Thomson,  and 
those  who  think  with  him  on  this  important  subject, 
conceive  that  such  a  remedy  presents  itself  in  the 
abolition  of  slavery  itself.  The  efficacy  of  the  remedy 
they  conceive  to  be  founded  in  the  immutable  princi- 
ples of  human  nature.  Nor,  in  the  conclusion  to  which 
lliey  come  in  regard  to  it,  do  they  rely  on  mere  ab- 
stract and  general  principles.  In  the  history  of  all 
states  that  have  arrived  at  real  and  permanent  greatness, 
they  think  they  can  trace  a  connexion,  between  the 
diffusion  of  freedom  and  the  growth  of  national  pros- 
perity ;  and,  in  following  the  unwavering  light  of  ex- 
perience, they  conceive  that  they  are  proposing  neither 
an  uncertain  nor  a  hazardous  experiment — depriving 
the  planter  of  nothing  really  valuable  in  his  property, 
but  placing  that  property  upon  a  firm  and  stable  foun- 
dation, by  removing  the  causes  which  are  silently  sap- 
ping and  undermining  it. 


Xliv  MEMOIR    OF 

With  the  friends  of  humanity  and  religion,  and,  it 
may  be  added,  of  true  policy,  Dr.  Thomson  was  so  far 
cordially  united.  The  only  point  on  which  his  views 
differed  from  those  of  any  of  this  class,  related  to  the 
time  at  which  the  grand  measure  of  abolition  should  be 
carried  into  effect.  It  has  been  already  observed  that 
he  declared  for  immediate  steps  with  a  view  to  this  ob- 
ject. And  to  this  conclusion  he  came,  not  only  as  a 
legitimate  deduction  from  the  general  principles  already 
adverted  to,  but  as  a  consequence  of  his  observation  of 
the  conduct  of  some  of  those  persons  who,  while  they 
acknowledged  his  principles,  found  pretexts  for  evading 
the  practical  results  to  which  these  naturally  conducted. 
For  years  the  evils  of  a  state  of  slavery  had  been  de- 
nounced ;  and,  such  was  the  notoriety  of  the  facts,  that 
they  could  not  be  denied.  Parliament,  reluctantly 
perhaps,  but,  governed  by  the  voice  of  the  nation,  de- 
cidedly had  expressed  its  desire  that  an  immediate 
period  should  be  put  to  the  more  glaring  of  these  evils, 
and  had  even  gone  the  length  of  recommending  a 
course  of  ameliorating  measures,  with  a  view  to  the 
ultimate  extinction  of  the  state  of  society  which  gave 
them  birth. ^"  Yet  years  had  passed,  and  nothing  com- 
paratively had  been  done.  In  some  quarters  the 
recommendation  of  government  had  been  met  on  the 
part  of  the  planters  and  the  colonial  legislatures,  by  a 
decided  expression  of  contempt,  accompanied  by  a 
declaration  of  their  irresponsible  right  of  property  in 
their  slaves.  And  in  those  islands  where  something 
like  a  show  of  deference  and  compliance  was  exhibited, 

*  See  Mr.  Canning's  resolutions  in  1823.  on  which  the  colonies  have  been 
called  to  act,  with  a  few  exceptions,  in  vain. 


DR.    THOMSON.  xlv 

facts  were  daily  developing  themselves,  which  proved 
that  it  was  vain  to  hope  for  the  accomplishment  of  any 
great  design  of  benevolence,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  men  who  avowed  their  interest,  in  perpetuating  that 
order  of  things  which  it  was  the  object  of  benevolence 
to  bring  to  an  end.  Under  these  circumstances,  and 
with  these  facts  before  him.  Dr.  Thomson  conceived 
that  it  was  a  mere  loss  of  time,  any  longer  to  entrust 
the  measure  of  abolition  to  persons,  whose  prejudices 
were  in  direct  hostility  to  the  views  of  parliament  and 
of  the  country.  When,  therefore,  the  directors  of  the 
Edinburgh  anti-slavery  society  proposed  to  hold  a 
meeting  in  October  last,  and  sunie  of  theui  requested 
Dr.  Thomson  to  attend  and  address  the  friends  of  the 
institution,  he  declared  his  determination,  if  he  attended, 
to  bring  forward  his  own  particular  views,  and  to 
deprecate  all  half-measures,  which  he  foresaw  would 
be  productive  of  no  good.  On  the  day  of  the  meeting, 
accordingly,  Dr.  Thomson  was  present  in  the  assembly 
room ;  and  after  Mr.  Jeffrey,  the  present  Lord  Advo- 
cate, and  some  other  speakers  had  addressed  the  meet- 
ing, he  craved  permission  to  state  the  conclusions  at 
which  he  had  arrived.  With  a  power  of  argument, 
and  an  earnestness  and  elevation  of  tone  which  can 
never  be  forgotten,  he  entered  on  the  subject ;  and,  in 
a  brief  speech,  explained  the  points  in  which  he  dif- 
fered from  the  former  speakers,  as  well  as  those  in 
which  he  agreed  with  them.  Never  was  the  triumph 
of  truth  and  eloquence  more  complete.  Before  he  had 
concluded,  the  majority  of  the  meeting  was  with  him  : 
the  confidence  of  the  directors  of  the  society  in  the 
measures  they  had  come  forward  to  recommend  was 


Xlvi  MEMOIR    OF 

shaken  ;  and  in  the  rapturous  acclamations  of  a  crowded 
assembly,  had  the  satisfaction  of  listening  to  the  first 
echo,  which  Great  Britain  through  all  her  provinces  is 
yet  destined  to  send  back,  to  the  call  of  justice  and  re- 
ligion, in  behalf  of  the  injured  children  of  her  colonies. 

SuDsequently  to  these  proceedings,  a  meeting  took 
place  of  the  friends  of  immediate  abolition,  at  which 
Dr.  Thomson  attended,  supported  by  the  directors  of 
the  anti-slav'ery  society,  who,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
had  obeyed  the  general  impulse,  and  entered  cordially 
into  his  enlarged  and  energetic  views.  His  appearance 
on  this  occasion  has  been  described  by  a  writer  of  the 
day,  as  "a  most  splendid  and  varied  display  of  wit,  ar- 
gument, and  impressive  eloquence."  The  moral  dig- 
nity of  the  subject  seemed  to  have  imparted  its  character 
to  the  man  and  to  his  eloquence.  Never  perhaps  did 
he  appear  more  truly  great. 

In  the  course  of  his  address  he  took  an  opportunity 
of  more  fully  developing  his  views  on  the  important 
question  of  immediate  emancipation.  To  many,  the 
word  immediate  has  proved  a  formidable  stumbling 
block,  suggesting  the  idea  of  a  sudden  dissolution  of 
all  the  bonds  by  which  society  in  the  colonies  is  held 
together.  To  such  persons  it  might  seem  necessary 
only  to  say,  that  freedom  in  this  country  is  attended  by 
no  such  unhappy  resuhs ;  and  that  which  experience 
proves  to  be  no  evil  in  this  country,  need  not,  unless 
through  culpable  mismanagement,  be  an  evil  elsewhere. 
The  truth  is,  while  an  immediate  declaration  of  freedom 
in  behalf  of  the  slave  population  of  the  colonies  is  de- 
manded by  every  principle  of  justice,  humanity,  religion, 
and  sound  political  wisdom,  it  is  the  duty  of  those, 


DR.    THOMSON. 


xlvii 


whose  province  it  is  to  make  the  declaration,  to  accom- 
pany it  by  such  precautionary  provisions  as  shall  strip 
it  of  its  tendency  to  produce  confusion  and  misrule,  and 
as  shall  thoroughly  meet  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  a 
new  state  of  society.  The  thing  wanted,  in  order  to 
the  safe  accomplishment  of  the  object  of  the  friends  of 
immediate  emancipation,  is  not  means,  but  inclination. 
Whenever  the  latter  shall  exist  in  the  proper  quarter, 
in  a  degree  to  outweigh  the  suggestions  of  interest  or 
indifference,  methods  will  easily  be  discovered  of  ad- 
justing the  claims,  and  allaying  the  fears  of  the  planter 
on  the  one  hand ;  and,  on  the  other,  of  introducing  the 
slave,  without  risk  or  inconvenience,  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  blessings  of  free  and  civilized  society. 

Meanwhile,  it  is  for  the  friends  of  the  planters,  and 
of  their  oppressed  dependents,  to  persevere  in  their  en- 
deavors to  bring  about  the  termination  of  a  state  of 
things  not  less  unnatural,  than  it  is  full  of  hazard  to 
property  and  life.  Nothing  but  the  timely  adoption  of 
decided  measures  in  behalf  of  our  slave  population  can 
arrest  the  crisis,  to  which  injustice  on  the  one  side,  and 
unmerited  wrongs  on  the  other  but  too  surely  tend.  In 
vain  is  it  for  the  advocates  of  slavery  to  imagine  that 
their  unrighteous  reign  will  always  be  permitted  to  last. 
Already  there  are  sym])toms  in  the  colonies  of  the 
awaking  of  that  mighty  spirit,  whose  voice  none  can 
hear  and  be  a  slave — the  spirit  which  gained  for 
Britons,  under  a  less  genial  sky,  the  blessings  of  free- 
dom, of  civilization,  and  of  religion,  of  equal  laws  and 
liberal  institutions.  Chain  down  that  spirit,  and  its  hour 
of  triumph  may  be  delayed,  and  its  vigor  may  for  a 
time  waste  itself  in  silent  aspirations,  or  in  ineffectual 


Xlviii  MEMOIR    OF 

Struggles :  but  it  will  not  expire.  Dark  passions  will 
spring  from  its  wrongs,  and  grow  up  by  its  side :  envy, 
hate,  a  festering  sense  of  undeserved  injury,  prompting 
to  revenge,  together  with  despair  of  attaining  by  lawful 
means  its  end,  will  goad  it  on  to  some  lawless,  reckless, 
desperate  act  of  wide-spread  rebellion,  in  which  the 
planter  and  his  property  will  perish  together,  and  the 
bond  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother-country 
will  be  snapt  as  by  the  convulsive  force  of  an  earth- 
quake. 

''  Long  trains  of  ill  may  pass  unheeded,  dumb  : 
But  veng-eance  is  behind,  and  justice  is  to  come." 

To  arrest  the  progress  of  the  colonies  to  a  consum- 
mation so  terrible,  though  perhaps,  when  we  revert  to 
their  history,  not  inappropriate, — as  well  as  to  vindicate 
the  eternal  principles  of  right  and  humanity,  are  the  ob- 
jects of  the  friends  of  immediate  emancipation.  And 
happy  will  it  be,  if  the  success  of  their  endeavors  be 
permitted  to  anticipate  and  supersede  the  lessons  of 
dreadful  experience. 

Up  to  the  period  of  his  death.  Dr.  Thomson  occu- 
pied much  of  his  time  in  promoting  this  object,  so  dear 
to  the  friends  of  freedom  and  humanity.  He  may 
almost  be  said  to  have  expired  while  pleading  its  cause  ; 
a  worthy  termination  to  the  labors  of  a  life,  of  which 
love  to  God,  issuing  in  love  to  man,  had  been  the  gov- 
erning principle. 

For  some  time  before  his  death,  his  mind,  it  is  be- 
lieved, experienced  something  of  a  presentiment  of  the 
approaching  event,  which  may  have  been  vouchsafed  in 
love,  to  perfect  his  preparation  for  his  sudden  change. 


DR.    THOMSON.  xlix 

More  than  once,  when  urged  by  the  members  of  his  own 
family  to  relieve  himself  of  some  portion  of  the  burden  of 
affairs  which  pressed  so  heavily  on  him,  he  replied  with 
affectionate  solemnity,  "I  must  work  the  work  of  Him  that 
sent  me  while  it  is  day ;  the  night  cometh  when  no  man 
can  work."  The  increasing  earnestness,  richness,  and 
variety  of  his  prayers,  both  in  private  jand  in  public,  are 
also  circumstances  that  struck  many,  and  none  more 
than  the  writer  of  these  pages. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  183],  the  day  on  which 
he  died,  he  appeared  to  his  family  in  his  usual  health. 
As  was  his  custom,  he  rose  and  breakfasted  at  an  early 
hour.  During  the  devotions  of  the  family,  which  he 
conducted  as  usual,  he  read  the  last  three  psalms,  and 
he  concluded  the  service  by  a  prayer  remarked  at  the 
time  for  its  spirituality  and  fervor.  After  baptizing  a 
child,  he  left  his  house  to  pay  some  visits  to  the  sick  ; 
and  at  a  later  hour  he  appeared  in  his  place  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  specially  convened 
for  the  purpose  of  ordaining  a  minister  to  one  of  our 
West  India  settlements.  During  his  attendance  at  the 
presbytery,  he  displayed  his  usual  interest,  and  took  his 
usual  share  in  the  business  of  the  court.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting,  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  he  proceed- 
ed homeward  ;  and  with  a  friend,  who  met  him  by  the 
way,  he  conversed  with  animation  and  cheerfulness  till 
he  reached  his  own  door,  on  the  threshold  of  which, 
without  a  struggle  or  a  groan,  he  suddenly  fell,  over- 
taken by  that  summons  which  recals  the  "  good  serv- 
ant" from  his  labor  to  his  reward. 

In  a  stroke  so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  and  in   all  its 
circumstances  so  well  calculated  to  produce  a  strong 
5 


1  MEMOIR    OF 

sensation,  the  public  of  Edinburgh,  and  it  may  be  add- 
ed, of  Scotland,  testified  the  liveliest  interest.  Many 
mourned  the  loss  of  a  friend,  a  counsellor,  a  brother  in 
adversity,  a  spiritual  father.  His  congregation  felt  that 
they  had  experienced  an  irreparable  bereavement. 
The  church  of  Scotland  lamented  the  removal  of  one 
of  its  strongest  pillars  and  most  distinguished  ornaments. 
And  the  friends  of  religion  in  general  beheld  in  his 
death  an  event,  to  the  consequences  of  which  they  could 
not  advert  without  deep  anxiety.  The  feelings  of  party 
were  merged  in  the  general  grief;  and  they  who  had 
known  him  while  living,  chiefly  as  a  formidable  antago- 
nist, hastened  to  accord  to  his  memory  the  tribute  of 
that  affectionate  regret,  which  is  usually  reserved  for 
tried  and  valued  friends ;  a  fact  honorable  at  once  to 
the  departed,  and  to  those  by  whom  the  tribute  was 
paid. 

Dr.  Thomson  is  interred  in  a  piece  of  ground  con- 
nected with  St.  Cuthbert's  church-yard,  divided  only 
by  a  wall  from  the  spot  where  lie  the  remains  of  his 
venerable  friend  and  father  in  the  church.  Sir  Henry 
Moncrieff.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  ministers  from 
all  parts  of  the  country,  by  the  students  of  the  divinity 
classes,  who  specially  requested  permission  to  attend, 
by  the  members  of  his  own  congregation,  and  by  the 
better  description  of  persons  of  all  pursuits  and  denom- 
inations in  Edinburgh ;  while  throngs  of  spectators 
lined  the  streets  through  which  the  pVocession  passed, 
testifying  by  unequivocal  signs  how  sincerely  they  par- 
took of  the  feelings  of  the  mourners. 

On  the  following  Sabbath  (February  20th)  a  funeral 
sermon  was  preached  in  St.  George's  church,  in  the 


DR.    THOMSON.  W 

forenoon,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers,  from  Hebrews 
xi.  4.;  and  another  in  the  afternoon,  by  the  Rhv.  Dr. 
Dickson  of  St.  Cuthbert's  from  Psahn  cxii.  6. 

Among  the  many  attempts  to  dehneate  the  character 
of  Dr.  Thomson,  the  following,  from  the  pen  of  one* 
who  knew  him  well,  and  whose  habits  peculiarly  qual- 
ify him  to  do  justice  to  such  an  effort  of  friendship? 
deserves  particularly  to  be  preserved.  It  is  inserted  in 
this  place  as  a  suitable  close  to  a  necessarily  imper- 
fect sketch  of  some  of  the  leading  events  of  Dr.  Thom- 
son's life. 

*'  During  the  excitement  caused  by  the  sudden  death 
of  a  public  man,  cut  down  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  in 
the  midst  of  a  career  of  extensive  usefulness,  it  is  easy 
to  pronounce  a  panegyric,  but  difficult  to  delineate 
a  character  which  shall  be  free  from  the  exaggeration 
of  existing  feeling,  and  recommend  itself  to  the  unbi- 
assed judgment  of  cool  reflection.  Rarely  has  such  a 
deep  sensation  been  produced  as  by  the  recent  removal 
of  Dr.  Thomson;  but  in  few  instances,  we  are  per- 
suaded, has  there  been  less  reason,  on  the  ground  of 
temporary  excitation,  for  making  abatements  from  the 
regret  and  lamentation  so  loudly  and  unequivocally  ex- 
pressed. He  was  so  well  known,  his  character  and 
talents  were  so  strongly  marked,  and  they  were  so 
much  of  that  description  which  all  classes  of  men  can 
appreciate,  that  the  circumstances  of  his  death  did  not 
create  the  interest,  but  only  gave  expression  to  that 
which  already  existed  in  the  public  mind. 

*  Dr.  M'CriC;  the  historian  of  Kuox  and  of  the  Reformation. 


lii  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Those  who  saw  Dr.  Thomson  once,  knew  him ; 
intimacy  gave  them  a  deeper  insight  into  his  character, 
but  furnished  no  grounds  for  altering  the  opinion  which 
they  had  at  first  been  led  to  form.     Simplicity — which 
is  an  essential  element  in  all  minds  of  superior  mould — 
marked   his  appearance,  his  reasoning,  his   eloquence, 
and  his  whole  conduct.     All  that  he  said   or  did  was 
direct,  straight-forward,  and  unaffected  ;  there  was  no 
laboring  for  efiect,  no  pakering  in  a  double  sense.     His 
talents  were  such  as  would  have  raised  him  to  eminence 
in  any  profession  or  public  walk  of  life  which  he  might 
have  chosen — a  vigorous  understanding,  an   active  and 
ardent  mind,  with  powers  of  close  and  persevering  ap- 
plication.    He  made  himself  master  in  a  short  time  of 
any  subject  to  which  he  found  it  necessary  to  direct  his 
attention,  had  all  his  knowledge  at  perfect   command, 
expressed  himself  with  the  utmost  perspicuity,  ease,  and 
energy,  and  when  roused  by  the  greatness  of  his  sub- 
ject, or  by  the  nature  of  the  opposition   which   he   en- 
countered, his  bold   and   masterly  eloquence  produced 
an  effect,  especially  on  a  popular   assembly,  far  beyond 
that  which  depends  on  the  sallies  of  imagination,  or  the 
dazzling   brilliancy  of  fancy-work.     Nor   was  he   less 
distinguished    for    his    moral    qualities,    among    which 
shone  conspicuously   an  honest,  firm,  unflinching,  fear- 
less independence  of  mind,  which  prompted   him   uni- 
formly to  adopt  and   pursue  that  course  which  his  con- 
science told  him   was  right,  indifferent  to  personal  con- 
sequences, and  regardless  of  the   frowns  and  threats  of 
the  powerful. 

"  Besides  the  instructions  of  his  worthy  father,  it  was 
Dr.  Thomson's  felicity  to  enjoy  the  intimate  friendship 


DR.    THOMSON.  IHi 

of  the  venerable  Sir  Henry  MoncriefF,  who  early  dis- 
covered his  rising  talents,  and  freely  imparted  to  him 
the  stores  of  his  own  vigorous  and  matured  mind,  and 
of  an  experience  acquired  during  the  long  period  in 
which  he  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  counsels  of 
the  national  church.  Though  Dr.  Thomson  was  known 
as  a  popular  and  able  preacher  from  the  time  he  first 
entered  on  the  ministry,  the  powers  of  his  mind  were 
not  fully  called  forth  and  developed  until  his  appoint- 
ment to  St.  George's.  He  entered  on  this  charge  with 
a  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  station,  as  one  of 
the  largest  parishes  of  the  metropolis,  containing  a  popula- 
tion of  the  most  highly  educated  class  of  society,  and  not 
without  the  knowledge  that  there  was  in  the  minds  of 
a  part  of  those  among  whom  he  was  called  to  labor,  a 
prepossession  against  the  peculiar  doctrines  which  had 
always  held  a  prominent  place  in  his  public  ministra- 
tions. But  he  had  not  long  occupied  that  pulpit,  when, 
in  spite  of  the  delicate  situation  in  which  he  was  placed 
by  more  than  one  public  event,  which  obliged  him  to 
give  a  practical  testimony  (displeasing  to  many  in  high 
places)  in  favor  of  the  purity  of  presbyterian  worship, 
and  the  independence  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  he 
disappointed  those  who  had  foreboded  his  ill  success, 
and  exceeded  the  expectations  of  such  of  his  friends  as 
had  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  talents.  By  the 
ability  and  eloquence  of  his  discourses,  by  the  assiduity 
and  prudence  of  his  more  private  ministrations,  and  by 
the  affectionate  solicitude  which  he  evinced  for  the 
spiritual  interests  of  those  committed  to  his  care,  he  not 
only  dissipated  every  unfavorable  impression,  but  seated 
himself  so  firmly  in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  that,  long 
*5 


liv  MEMOIR    OF 

before  his  lamented  death,  no  clergyman  in  this  city, 
established  or  dissenting,  was  more  cordially  revered 
and  beloved  by  his  congregation.  Nothing  endeared 
him  to  them  so  much  and  so  deservedly  as  the  attention 
he  paid  to  the  young  and  the  sick ;  and  of  the  happy 
art  which  he  possessed  of  communicating  instruction  to 
the  former,  and  administering  advice  and  consolation 
to  the  latter,  there  are  many  pleasing,  and,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  lasting  memorials. 

"  Dr.  Thomson  was  decidedly  evangelical  in  his 
doctrinal  sentiments,  which  he  did  not  disguise  or  hold 
back  in  his  public  discourses  ;  but  he  was  a  practical 
preacher,  and  instead  of  indulging  in  abstruse  specula- 
tions or  philosophical  disquisition,  made  it  his  grand  aim 
to  impress  the  truths  of  the  gospel  on  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers.  Attached  to  the  church  of  Scotland  from 
principle,  not  from  convenience  or  accident,  he  made 
no  pretensions  to  that  indiscriminating  and  spurious  lib- 
erality which  puts  all  forms  of  ecclesiastical  polity  and 
communion  on  a  level;  but  in  his  sentiments  and  feel- 
ings he  was  liberal  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word  ; 
could  distinguish  between  a  spirit  of  sectarianism  and 
conscientious  secession  ;  never  assumed  the  airs  of  a 
churchman  in  his  intercourse  with  dissenters,  co-oper- 
ated with  them  in  every  good  work,  and  cherished  a 
respect  for  all  faithful  ministers,  which  was  founded  not 
only  on  the  principles  of  toleration  and  good  will,  but 
on  the  conviction  that  their  labors  were  useful  in  supply- 
ing that  lack  of  service  on  the  part  of  his  own  church, 
and  of  counteracting  those  abuses  in  her  administration, 
which  he  never  scrupled  on  any  proper  occasion  to 
confess  and  deplore. 


DR.    THOMSON.  Iv 

"  It  is  well  known  that  Dr.  Thonason  belonged  to 
that  party  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  which  has  de- 
fended the  rights  of  the  people  in  opposition  to  the  rig- 
orous enforcement  of  the  law  of  patronage;  and  in  ad- 
vocating this  cause  in  the  Church  Courts,  he  has,  for 
many  years,  displayed  his  unrivalled  talents  as  a  public 
speaker,  sustained  by  an  intrepidity  which  was  unawed 
by  power,  and  a  fortitude  which  was  proof  against  over- 
whelming majorities.  Of  late  years  he  has  devoted  a 
great  portion  of  his  labors  to  the  defence  of  the  pure 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  emancipation  of 
the  degraded  negroes  in  the  West  Indies ;  and,  in  both 
causes,  he  has  displayed  his  characteristic  ability,  zeal 
for  truth,  and  uncompromising  and  indignant  reproba- 
tion of  every  species  of  dishonesty,  injustice,  and  op- 
pression. His  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  doctrines  and 
standards  of  the  church,  against  some  recent  heresies 
and  delusions,  aftbrd  an  additional  proof,  not  only  of 
his  unwearied  zeal  in  behalf  of  that  sacred  cause  to 
which  he  devoted  all  his  energies,  but  of  his  readiness, 
at  all  times,  to  "  contend  earnestly  for  the  faiih  which 
was  once  delivered  to  the  saints." 

"Great  as  Dr.  Thomson's  popularity  was,  (and  few 
men  in  his  sphere  of  life  ever  .rose  so  high  in  popular 
favor,)  he  was  not  exposed  to  the  woe  denounced 
against  those  "of  whom  all  men  speak  well."  He  had 
his  detractors  and  enemies,  who  waited  for  his  halting, 
and  were  prepared  to  magnify  and  blazon  his  faults. 
Of  him  it  may  be  said,  as  of  another  Christian  patriot, 
no  man  ever  loved  or  hated  him  moderately.  This 
was  the  inevitable  consequence  of  his  p;reat  talents,  and 
the  rough  contests  in  which  he  was  involved.     His  gen- 


Ivi  MEMOIR    OF 

erous  spirit  raised  him  above  the  indulgence  of  envy 
and  every  jealous  feeling,  but  it  made  him  less  tolerant 
of  those  who  displayed  these  mean  vices.  When  con- 
vinced of  the  justice  of  a  cause,  and  satisfied  of  its  mag- 
nitude, he  threw  his  whole  soul  into  it,  summoned  all 
his  powers  to  its  defence,  and  assailed  its  adversaries,  not 
only  with  strong  arguments,  but  with  sharp,  pointed, 
and  poignant  sarcasm;  but  unless  he  perceived  insin- 
cerity, malignity,  or  perverseness,  his  own  feelings  were 
too  acute  and  too  just  to  permit  him  gratuitously  to 
wound  those  of  others.  That  his  zeal  was  always 
reined  by  prudence  ;  that  his  ardor  of  mind  never  hur- 
ried him  to  a  precipitate  conclusion,  or  led  him  to  mag- 
nify the  subject  in  debate;  that  his  mind  was  never 
warped  by  party  feeling ;  and  that  he  never  indulged 
the  love  of  victory,  or  sought  to  humble  a  teazing  or 
pragmatic  adversary,  are  positions  which  his  true  friends 
will  not  maintain.  But  his  ablest  opponents  will  admit, 
that  in  all  the  great  questions  in  which  he  distinguished 
himself,  he  acted  conscientiously ;  that  he  was  an  open, 
manly,  and  honorable  adversary  ;  and  that,  though  he 
was  sometimes  intemperate,  he  was  never  disingenu- 
ous. Dr.  Thomson  was  by  constitution  a  reformer ; 
he  felt  a  strong  sympathy  with  those  great  men  who,  in 
a  former  age,  won  renown,  by  assailing  the  hydra  of 
error,  and  of  civil  and  religious  tyranny ;  and  his  char- 
acter partook  of  theirs.  In  particular,  he  bore  no 
inconsiderable  resemblance  to  Luther,  both  in  excel- 
lencies and  defects — his  leonine  nobleness  and  potency, 
his  masculine  eloquence,  his  facetiousness  and  pleas- 
antry, the  fondness  which  he  shewed  for  the  fascinating 
charms  of  music,  and  the  irritability  and  vehemence 


DR.    THOMSON.  IvU 

which  he  occasionally  exhibited,  to  which  some  will  add 
the  necessity  which  this  imposed  on  him  to  make  retrac- 
tions, which,  while  they  threw  a  partial  shade  over  his 
fame,  taught  his  admirers  the  needful  lesson,  that  he  was 
a  man  subject  to  like  passions  and  infirmities  with  others. 
But  the  fact  is,  though  hitherto  known  to  few,  and  the 
time  is  now  come  for  revealing  it,  that  some  of»4hose 
effusions  which  were  most  objectionable,  and  exposed 
him  to  the  greatest  obloquy,  were  neither  composed  by 
Dr.  Thomson,  nor  seen  by  him,  until  they  were  pub- 
lished to  the  world ;  and  that  in  one  instance,  which  has 
given  rise  to  the  most  unsparing  abuse,  he  paid  the  ex- 
penses of  a  prosecution,  and  submitted  to  make  a  pubhc 
apology,  for  an  offence  of  which  he  was  innocent  as 
the  child  unborn,  rather  than  give  up  the  name  of  the 
friend  who  was  morally  responsible  for  the  deed  ;— 
an  example  of  generous  self-devotion  which  has  few 
parallels. 

"  To  his  other  talents,  Dr.  Thomson  added  a  singu- 
lar capacity  for  business,  which  not  only  qualified  him 
for  taking  an  active  part  in  the  Church  Courts,  but  ren- 
dered him  highly  useful  to  those  public  charities  of 
which  the  clergy  of  Edinburgh  are  officially  managers, 
and  to  the  different  voluntary  societies  with  which  he 
was  connected.  This  caused  unceasing  demands  on 
his  time  and  exertions,  which,  joined  to  his  other  labors, 
were  sufficient  to  wear  out  the  most  robust  constitution, 
and  he  at  last  sunk  under  their  weight. 

"  In  private  life.  Dr.  Thomson  was  every  thing  that 
is  amiable  and  engaging.  He  was  mild,  and  gentle, 
and  cheerful ; — deeply  tender  and  acutely  sensitive  in 
his  strongest  affections;  most  faithful  and  ti-ue  in  his 


Iviii  MEMOIR    OF 

attachments  of  friendship — kindhearted  and  indulgent 
to  all  with  whom  he  had  intercourse.  His  firm  ad- 
herence to  principle,  when  he  thought  principle  involved, 
whatever  appearance  of  severity  it  may  have  presented 
to  those  who  saw  him  only  as  a  public  character,  had 
no  taint  of  harshness  in  his  private  life ;  and  unbending 
as  he-certainly  was  in  principle,  he  never  failed  to  re- 
ceive with  kindness  what  was  addressed  to  his  reason 
in  the  spirit  of  friendship.  It  may  indeed  be  said  with 
truth,  that,  great  as  were  his  public  merits,  and  deplor- 
able the  public  loss  in  his  death,  yet  to  those  who  had 
the  happiness  to  live  with  him  in  habits  of  intimacy,  the 
deepest  and  the  bitterest  feeling  still  is,  the  separation 
from  a  man  who  possessed  so  many  of  the  finest  and  most 
amiable  sensibilities  of  the  human  heart.  It  was  around 
his  own  family  hearth,  and  in  the  circle  of  his  intimate 
acquaintances,  that  Dr.  Thomson  was  peculiarly  de- 
hghtful.  In  him  the  lion  and  the  lamb  may  be  said  to 
have  met  together.  It  was  equally  natural  in  him  to 
play  with  a  child,  and  to  enter  the  lists  with  a  practised 
polemic.  He  could  be  gay  without  levity,  and  grave 
without  moroseness.  His  frank  and  bland  manners,  the 
equable  flow  of  his  cheerfulness  and  good  humor,  and 
the  information  which  he  possessed  on  almost  every 
subject,  made  his  company  to  be  courted  by  persons 
of  all  classes.  He  could  mix  with  men  of  the  world 
without  compromising  his  principles,  or  lowering  his 
character  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  his  presence 
was  enough  to  repress  any  thing  which  had  the  sem- 
blance of  irreligion. 

"  The   loss  of  such   a  man,  and  at  such  a  time,  is 
incalculable.     His  example  and  spirit  had  a  wholesome 


DR.    THOMSON.  liX 

and  refreshing,  an  exhilarating  and  elevating  influence, 
on  the  society  in  which  he  moved  ;  and  even  the  agi- 
tation which  he  produced  when  he  was  in  his  stormy 
moods,  was  salutary, — like  the  hurricane,  (his  own 
favorite  image,  and  the  last  which  he  employed  in  pub- 
lic,) purifying  the  moral  atmosphere,  and  freeing  it  from 
the  selfishness  and  duplicity,  and  time-serving,  with 
which  it  was  over-charged." 


The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Thomson's  publications. 

Catechism  on  the  Nature  and  Uses  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  18mo. — Address  to  Christian  Parents  on  the 
Religious  Education  of  their  Children,  18mo. — The 
Young  Warned  against  the  Enticement  of  Sinners, 
18mo. — Lectures  on  Select  Portions  of  Scripture, 
12mo. — The  Sin  and  Danger  of  being  "Lovers  of 
Pleasure  more  than  Lovers  of  God,"  ISmo. — Sermons 
on  Infidelity,  post  8vo. — Catechism  for  Young  Persons, 
18mo. — Sermons  on  Hearing  the  Word  Preached, 
18mo. — Lectures  on  Select  Portions  of  the  Psalms, 
post  8vo. — Sermons  on  Various  Subjects,  8vo. — Ser- 
mons on  the  Doctrine  of  Universal  Pardon,  12mo. — 
Besides  occasional  Sermons,  Pamphlets,  and  School- 
Books ;  and  his  contributions  to  the  Edinburgh  Ency- 
clopaedia, the  Religious  Monitor,  and  the  Christian 
Instructor. 


SERMOJVS. 


SERMON    I.* 


SALVATION    BY    GRACE. 

EPHESIANS    ii.  8. 

For  by  grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith. 

If  there  be  one  truth  more  distinctly  stated  than  another 
in  the  Bible,  it  is  the  truth  contained  in  our  text — that 
salvation  flows  entirely  from  divine  grace,  without  any 
merit  on  the  part  of  the  sinner  to  deserve  it,  and  without 
any  ability  on  his  part  to  accomplish  it.  This  truth  is 
interwoven  with  every  part  of  the  gospel  scheme.  It 
stands  forth  as  a  leading  declaration  in  the  gospel 
record, — and  it  is  that  which  gives  to  the  gospel,  as  a 
message  from  God  to  our  fallen  race,  all  its  meaning 
and  consistency,  all  its  value  and  all  its  effect. 

It  is  a  truth,  indeed,  which  does  not  find  a  ready  ac- 
cess into  the  human  mind  ;  and  even  when  it  Z5  received, 
that  reception  is  not  always  so  cordial  and  unreserved  as 

*  Preached  at  the  introduction  of  the  Rev.  John  W.  Thonison,  to  the 
church  and  parish  of  Monedie,  10th  August,  1828. 

6 


62  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.    1. 

it  might  be  expected  to  be.  We  are  unwilling  to  have 
our  lofty  imaginations  brought  down,  to  confess  our  ig- 
norance, our  unworthiness,  our  insufficiency, — to  accede 
to  a  plan  which  proceeds  upon  the  mortifying  supposition, 
that  we  can  do  nothing  efficiently  for  ourselves,  and 
must  have  every  thing  done  for  us  by  the  aid  and  inter- 
vention of  another.  We  have  pride  of  understanding, 
and  think  ourselves  competent  to  the  formation  of  a 
scheme,  which  might  at  least  contribute  to  our  salvation, 
if  it  could  not  altogether  effectuate  that  object.  We 
have  pride  of  heart,  and  will  not  acknowledge  that  moral 
depravity  and  guilt  which  at  once  render  salvation  nec- 
essary, and  incapacitate  us  for  working  it  out  by  our 
own  ability.  In  short,  we  cannot  bear  to  believe  that, 
amidst  all  our  fancied  attainments  and  all  our  seeming 
excellencies,  there  is  nothing  truly  deserving  in  us, — to 
lie  down,  under  a  sense  of  our  utter  nothingness,  in  the 
dust  of  deep  and  unfeigned  humility,  and  to  be  indebted 
to  foreign  aid  exclusively,  for  all  our  blessings  and  for  all 
our  hopes.  And  yet,  not  only  must  this  high-minded- 
ness  be  subdued,  in  order  that  we  may  be  saved,  but 
there  is  not  a  position  more  susceptible  of  proof  than  this, 
— that  our  salvation  is  wholly  of  grace.  Men  may  reject 
it,  from  indifference  to  all  the  subjects  to  which  it  re- 
lates. They  may  treat  it  with  ridicule  and  scorn,  from 
misunderstanding  its  import,  or  from  wantonness  of  dis- 
position. Or  they  may  deny  it,  by  appealing  to  princi- 
ples and  modes  of  reasoning  which  acknowledge  not  the 
authority  of  revelation.  But  it  will  be  found  to  com- 
m.end  itself  at  once  to  our  judgment,  our  belief,  and  our 
submission,  if  we  will  only  consent  to  take  our  views 
from  that  sacred  volume,  which  alone  assures  us  that 
there  is  salvation, — which  tells  us  in  what  it  consists, — 
which  urges  us  to  seek  it,  and  which  promises  that, 
seeking  it  as  it  is  offered  to  us,  it  will  certainly  become 
ours. 

It  is  to  the  illustration  of  this  truth  that  we  mean  at 
present  to  direct  your  attention. 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  63 

Now  what  is  the  representation  which  the  Scriptures 
give  us  of  OLir  spiritual  condition  ?  They  declare  that 
man  is  guilty.     But  do  they  ever  insinuate  that  he  has 
wherewithal  to  atone  for  his  guilt,  or  that  he  can  do  any 
thing  to  establish  a  claim  to  the  pardon  and  absolution 
that  he  needs?     They  assert  that  he  is  ignorant.     But 
do  they  assert,  that  by  any  exertion  of  his  intellectual 
faculties,  he  can  discover  the  way  of  reconciliation  and 
eternal  life  ?     They  hold  him  out  as  in  a  state  of  inher- 
ent corruption.     But  is  it  their  doctrine  that  he  has  also 
inherent  power  to  change  his  heart,  and  to  become  the 
partaker  of  a  divine  nature  ?     They  represent  him  as  led 
captive  by  Satan  at  his  will.     But  do  they,  anywhere, 
ascribe  to  him  either  the  wisdom  or  the  energy,  that  is 
requisite  to  baffle  and  overcome  this  arch-enemy  of  his 
soul  ?    They  describe  him  as  exposed  to  numerous  diffi- 
culties and  temptations.     But  do  they  give  him  the  least 
encouragement  to  think  that,  if  left  to  himself,  he  could 
succeed  in  struggling  through  the  one,  or  in  resisting  the 
other?     No,  indeed,  my  friends,  you  cannot  have  read 
the  Scriptures,  however  superficially,  without  perceiving, 
that  all  these  questions  must  be  answered  in  the  nega- 
tive.    The  Scriptures,  indeed,  give  a  most  melancholy 
and  affecting  picture  of  man's  fallen  condition,  but  the 
most  melancholy  and  affecting  part  of  it  is,  that  he  can- 
not by  any  efforts  of  his  own  deliver  himself  from  the 
ruin  in    which  he    is  involved, — that    in  this  view  his 
wisdom  is  but  folly,  his  strength  w^eakness,  his  righte- 
ousness filthy  rags,  and  that,  if    no    interposition   had 
taken  place  in  his  behalf,  he  must  have  inevitably  and  for 
ever  perished.     Accordingly,  we  are  told  that  "  Christ 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  As  sin- 
ners we  were  "  far  off,  having  no  hope  and  without  God 
in  the  world."     And  we  were  "without  strength,  when 
Christ  died  for  the  ungodly."     These,  and  various  other 
passages  of  holy  writ,  demonstrate,  that  man  as  a  sinner, 
if  abandoned  to  his  own  resources,  is  utterly  helpless 
and  undone.     And  while  they  explicitly  state  his  total 
inability  to  save  himself,  they  as  explicitly  ascribe  his 


64  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

salvation  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  to  no  other  source. 
"  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten 
Son  that  we  might  live  through  him."  "  Ye  ar^  justi- 
fied freely  by  the  grace  of  God."  "  Not  by  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his 
mercy  hath  he  saved  us."  "  Grace  reigns  through 
righteousness  unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  "By  grace  are  ye  saved."  And,  besides  a 
multitude  of  Scriptures  to  the  same  effect,  we  see  from 
the  whole  strain  and  constitution  of  the  gospel,  that  it  is 
a  scheme  of  mercy  free  and  undeserved,  for  the  benefit 
of  creatures  who  have  both  forfeited  all  title  to  the  divine 
favor,  and  are  wholly  destitute  of  the  means  of  regaining 
it,  and  that  the  tidings  which  it  brings  are  good  tidings, 
which  neither  would  nor  could  have  proceeded  from  any 
other  source  than  the  compassion  of  him,  who  though  a 
just  God  is  yet  a  Saviour,  and  who,  in  the  character  of  a 
Savior,  is  rich  in  mercy  and  plenteous  in  redemption. 
But  while  it  is  the  grace  of  God  which  has  thus 
brought  salvation  to  the  world  at  all,  it  is  the  grace  of 
God  also  which  has  brought  salvation  to  us,  proclaimed 
it  to  us,  and  placed  it  within  our  reach.  There  are 
multitudes  of  our  fellow-creatures  who  have  never 
heard  of  a  Saviour — who  are  still  ignorant  of  the  true 
God,  and  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent— who  are 
living  in  all  the  abominations  of  pagan  idolatry,  aliens 
from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  to  the 
covenant  of  promise.  But  it  is  not  so  with  us.  Unto 
us  the  word  of  salvation  has  been  sent;  upon  our  dwell- 
ings the  light  of  divine  revelations  has  been  made  to 
shine;  into  our  hands  has  been  put  the  record  which 
God  has  given  of  his  son  whom  he  has  sent  to  save 
sinners;  and  there  have  been  distinctly  unfolded  to  our 
view  the  way  of  eternal  life,  and  the  means  by  which 
we  may  be  enabled  to  walk  in  it.  Now,  what  is  it  that 
has  thus  made  us  to  differ?  what  is  it  that  has  secured 
for  us  that  superiority,  in  point  of  external  privilege, 
which  we  enjoy  over  the  myriads  of  human  beings  who 
dwell  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth?  Were  we  possessed 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  65 

of  any  previous  claims  to  the  favor  of  the  Almighty, 
which  would  have  made  it  injustice  to  leave  us  in  a 
state  of  spiritual  darkness,  and  hopeless  degeneracy?  was 
it  possible  for  us  to  have  done  any  thing  to  merit  such  a 
high  distinction  as  that  to  which  we  have  been  raised 
by  the  knowledge  of  Christianity?  Or  shall  we  attribute 
it  to  mere  chance,  which  equally  excludes  the  inter- 
position of  God  and  the  desert  of  man  ?  No,  my  friends, 
in  none  of  these  things  do  we  find  an  adequate  cause, 
for  that  distinguishing  privilege  which  we  enjoy,  in  con- 
sequence of  having  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel  com- 
municated to  us.  We  are  to  seek  for  it  in  the  sove- 
reign grace  of  him,  in  whom  the  plan  of  human  salvation 
originated,  and  who  alone  could,  subsequently,  deter- 
mine to  whom  it  should  be  made  known,  and  from  whom 
it  sliould  be  withheld.  We  cannot  tell  why  it  has  been 
kept  back  from  such  a  large  proportion  of  our  race, 
The  reason  has  not  been  revealed  to  us  ;  and  we  have 
no  means  of  discovering  it.  Perhaps  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  cases,  it  becomes  us  to  look  up  to  God  and  say, 
''Even  so  Father,  for  so  it  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight." 
But  whatever  explanation  may  be  given  or  conjectured, 
it  is  obvious  that,  so  far  as  we  are.  concerned,  it  is  the 
divine  favor,  neither  deserved  nor  solicited  by  us,  that 
has  blessed  our  lot  with  the  light  and  mercy  of  the 
gospel. 

And  it  is  to  be  observed,  still  more  particularly,  that 
it  is  by  the  operation  of  divine  grace,  that  the  salvation 
of  the  gospel  is  brought  to  us  individually  and  effectu- 
ally. We  are  all  permitted  to  hear  its  joyful  sound  ; 
but  it  is  a  mourn  Rd  fact  that  w^e  do  not  all  listen  to  it, 
and  do  not  all  obey  it.  Among  the  multitude  to  whom 
its  message  is  conveyed,  there  are  some  only  who  give  a 
cordial  welcome  to  it,  and  embrace  the  deliverance 
which  it  offers,  and  comply  with  the  terms  which  it  pre- 
scribes. This  is  a  matter  of  undeniable  fact :  but  it  is 
no  less  true,  that  if  we  be  among  the  number,  we  must 
ascribe  our  happy  situation  to  the  influences  of  that 
grace  without  which  we  can  do  nothing.  Looking  to 
*6 


66  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.    1. 

the  powers  of  the  understanding,  and  the  dispositions  of 
the  heart,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  outward  condi- 
tion, as  these  are  delineated  in  Scripture,  and  experi- 
enced in  the  case  of  the  natural  man,  we  may  well  ask, 
"  Can  these  dry  bones  live  ?"  And  the  only  answer  that 
can  be  given,  is,  that  they  cannot  live,  unless  the  spirit 
of  God  breathe  upon  them.  In  our  personal  character 
there  is  neither  power  to  effectuate,  nor  merit  to  procure, 
that  redemption  from  sin,  that  restoration  to  the  hope  of 
heaven,  and  that  change  in  the  moral  constitution  of  our 
nature,  which  are  denied  to  those  of  our  fellow  creatures 
who  are  around  us  and  among  us — living  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  associating  under  the  same  roof,  and 
receiving  the  same  instruction.  We  must  search  some- 
where else  for  the  cause  of  such  a  peculiar  phenomenon. 
And  it  is  the  doctrine  of  Scripture,  that  it  is  God  himself 
who  begins  the  good  work  in  us,  and  carries  it  on,  and 
brings  it  ultimately  to  perfection.  This  is  effected, 
indeed,  in  a  manner  corresponding  with  the  rational  na- 
ture which  he  has  given  us.  Our  understanding  is  con- 
vinced by  sufficient  reasons ;  and  our  will  is  moved  by 
suitable  motives ;  and  we  act  upon  principles  and  exer- 
cise affections  which  have  the  full  approbation  and  con- 
currence of  our  own  minds.  But  still  the  necessities  of 
our  spiritual  condition  require,  and  the  scheme  of  the 
gospel  has  provided,  that  the  whole  should  be  under  the 
awakening,  guiding,  constraining,  over-ruling  influence 
of  divine  grace.  It  is  grace  which — whatever  be  the 
instrument  or  medium  employed — first  brings  us  from 
darkness  into  light,  and  from  the  powder  of  Satan  unto 
God — which  enlightens  us,  and  renews  us,  and  makes 
us  a  peculiar  and  an  obedient  people.  If  we  have  faith 
to  embrace  the  Saviour,  this  faith  is  wrought  in  us,  and  is 
the  gift  of  God.  If  we  have  repented,  that  our  sins  may 
be  blotted  out,  this  repentance  is  given  to  us,  as  well  as 
the  remission  with  which  it  is  accompanied.  If  we  are 
taught  to  love  God,  this  love  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  short,  if 
there   be  any  thing  good   in  our   spiritual  frame,  and 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  67 

if  there  be  any  thing  vahiable  m  our  Christian  experi- 
ence— and  if  any  change  has  been  effected  in  our  char- 
acter or  our  condition  as  accountable  beings — if  we  are 
Hving  in  any  measure  ss  the  children  of  God,  cultivating 
their  tem))er,  and  enjoying  their  privileges — and  if  we 
can  appropriate  to  ourselves  any  of  the  promises  of  the 
gospel,  or  any  of  the  blessings  of  salvation,  the  sentiment 
which  we  hold,  and  the  language  we  employ,  must  be 
that  of  ihe  apostle,  when  he  said  "It  is  by  the  grace  of 
God  that  I  am  what  I  am."  Yes !  my  Christian  friends, 
if  the  grace  of  God  had  not  brought  you  salvation,  you 
must  have  been  still  in  your  sins,  and  in  your  sins  you 
must  have  perished.  As  it  was  in  that  grace,  that  the 
economy  of  redemption  took  its  rise,  so  it  is  by  the  same 
grace  that  you  have  not  only  been  made  acquainted  with 
it,  but  led  also  to  acquiesce  in  it, — that  you  have  been 
persuaded  to  accept  of  him  who  is  mighty  to  save — that 
you  are  conducted  along  the  path  of  righteousness — that 
you  are  cheered,  and  upheld,  and  animated  amid  your 
manifold  trials — that  you  are  enabled  to  rejoice  in  the 
hope  of  glory.  And  at  every  step  you  take  in  the  sa- 
cred and  heavenward  pilgrimage  through  which  you  are 
passing,  you  have  reason  to  stand  still  that  you  may  not 
only  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  your  God,  but  exclaim 
witii  the  mingled  feelings  of  humility  and  gratitude, 
"  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  great 
name  be  all  the  praise." 

It  is  true,  my  friends,  we  speak  of  the  merits  of 
Christ  as  procuring  our  salvation  :  and  some  may  be 
inclined  to  think,  that  such  a  position  is  not  altogether 
consistent  with  the  statement,  that  our  salvation  is  wholly 
of  grace.  The  inconsistency,  however,  is  merely 
ideal.  Christ  certainly  did  fulfil  the  law  in  our  stead — 
he  finished  transgression,  made  reconciliation  for  iniquity, 
and  brought  in  an  everlasting  righteousness.  But 
then  you  will  observe  that  all  this — the  thing  which  he 
did — his  manner  of  doing  it — and  the  success  which 
crowned  his  labors — all  this  was  the  gracious  appoint- 
ment of  God.      It  is  not  the  right  scriptural  statement 


68  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   ]. 

that  Christ  stepped  forward,  and  by  a  work  of  mere 
spontaneous  suffering  and  obedience,  asserted  for  sinners 
a  title  to  that  which  God  was  not  already  inclined,  or 
had  not  already  determined  to  bestow.  He  came  from 
God,  to  execute  a  plan  which  God  had  devised  in  the 
counsels  of  eternity :  it  was  by  God  that  he  was  quali- 
fied for  the  great  undertaking  ;  and  by  him  was  the  work- 
accepted,  because  it  was  both  the  result  of  his  own 
ordination,  and  performed  according  to  the  decision  and 
direction  of  his  own  will.  And  the  satisfaction  which 
Christ  offered  to  the  divine  justice,  was  nothing  more 
than  a  necessary  measure  for  attaining  the  purposes  of 
the  divine  love — a  step  which  it  was  requisite  for  mercy 
to  take  in  its  glorious  march  towards  the  salvation  of 
perishing  sinners.  It  is  far  from  being  essential  to  the 
free  grace  of  God,  that  in  its  manifestation  no  attention 
should  be  paid  to  his  other  attributes.  On  the  contrary, 
the  glory  of  each  of  his  perfections  is  concerned  in  the 
harmonious  exercise  of  them  all.  And,  accordingly,  the 
obedience  of  Christ  was  appointed,  in  order  that  his  holi- 
ness and  justice  might  be  fully  vindicated,  while  his  pity 
operated  for  the  pardon  and  redemption  of  rebellious 
men.  But  then  this  was  his  own  appointment :  it  was 
an  expression  of  his  grace,  and  you  may  judge  of  the 
extent  of  that  grace  which  it  exhibited,  when  you  re- 
member that  for  our  deliverance  from  guilt  and  ruin,  he 
did  not  spare  even  his  own  Son,  but  sent  him  into  the 
world  that  he  might  be  made  under  the  law,  and  pour 
out  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  This  arrangement, 
while  it  secures  the  authority  of  God's  government  and 
the  glory  of  his  character,  as  well  as  accomplishes  the 
salvation  of  his  fallen  offspring,  does  at  the  same  time 
magnify  his  grace  much  more  than  if  our  iniquities  had 
been  blotted  out,  and  our  restoration  effected,  by  his 
simple  and  almighty  volition.  And  therefore  it  is,  that 
the  Scriptures,  when  speaking  with  peculiar  emphasis 
and  rapture  of  the  love  of  God,  refer  to  the  mission,  and 
incarnation,  and  death  of  Christ,  as  its  greatest  and  most 
overpowering  manifestation. 


SER.    1  .  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  69 

It  is  also  true  that  we  speak  of  your  being  justified 
and  saved  through  faith.  And  no  doubt  it  is  the  plain 
doctrine  of  Scripture,  that  without  this  principle  we  can 
have  no  well-grounded  hope  of  obtaining  forgiveness 
and  acceptance.  But,  then,  what  is  this  faith  ?  Not 
only  is  it  a  gift  of  God — one  of  the  fruits  of  his  Holy 
Spirit — wrought  in  us,  and  nmaintained  in  us,  not  by  our 
own,  but  by  his  energy — it  is,  moreover,  that  very  exer- 
cise of  the  mind  which  refers  the  whole  of  our  redemp- 
tion to  the  love  of  God,  as  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  does  not,  and  it  cannot,  merit  redemption.  It  has  no 
efficient  virtue  in  its  own  nature.  It  has  no  more  good 
desert  in  it  than  any  other  quality  which  belongs  to  the 
renewed  mind.  It  is  the  appointed  means  of  our  be- 
coming experimentally  interested  in  the  Saviour,  who  is 
offered  to  us.  It  implies  a  renunciation  of  all  depend- 
ence upon  any  thing  in  ourselves.  It  is  a  fixing  of  our 
dependence  upon  Him  who  has  been  set  forth  as  a 
propitiation  for  our  sins.  And  that  propitiation  having 
been  instituted  solely  by  the  divine  mercy,  faith  can  be 
considered  as  nothing  more  than  trust  in  that  mercy  as 
the  only  ground  on  which  we  expect  to  be  saved — as 
the  only  source  from  which  proceed  to  us  all  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  we  are  said  to 
be  "justified  by  faith."  It  is  in  this  sense  also  that  we 
are  said  to  be  "  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus."  And  it  is  in  this  sense,  finally,  that  we  are  said 
to  be  "  chosen  to  salvation,  through  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth." 

It  is  also  true  that  we  insist  upon  the  necessity  of  per- 
sonal righteousness  in  those  who  shall  be  finally  saved. 
But  neither  is  this  incompatible  with  the  doctrine  of  free 
grace,  as  stated  in  my  text.  Holiness  and  happiness 
ai'e,  in  their  own  relative  nature  and  in  the  divine  ordi- 
nance, inseparably  connected — so  that  unless  you  be 
possessed  of  the  one,  you  cannot  be  restored  to  the 
other.  You  cannot  be  happy,  unless  you  be  qualified 
for  the  enjoyment  of  that  which  constitutes  happiness; 
and  this  qualification  consists  in  being  holy.     Holiness, 


70  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.    1. 

therefore,  is  declared  in  Scripture  to  be  indispensably- 
requisite.  But  then  this  very  holiness  is  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  part  of  the  salvation  which  is  wrought  out  for 
you  by  the  grace  of  God.  In  the  exercise  of  grace  to 
which  you  had  no  rightful  claim,  he  sent  his  Son  to 
redeem  you  from  your  iniquities,  and  purify  you  as  a 
peculiar  people,  and  to  make  you  zealous  of  good  works. 
It  is  in  the  exercise  of  grace  that  he  communicates  to 
you  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  the  very  purpose  of  sanctifying 
your  souls.  It  is  in  the  exercise  of  grace  that  he  has 
established  those  sacred  ordinances  which  go  to  improve 
your  mind  and  character,  that  he  puts  it  into  your  heart 
to  embrace  the  ever-recurring  opportunities  of  engaging 
in  them,  and  that  he  blesses  these  effectually  for  your 
good.  It  is  in  the  exercise  of  grace  that  he  overrules 
the  dispensations  of  his  providence  for  teaching  you 
lessons  of  spiritual  wisdom,  and  training  you  to  habits  of 
])iety  and  heavenly  mindedness.  And  whereas,  even  in 
your  seasons  of  holiest  resolution  and  most  devoted  zeal, 
and  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances  in  which  you 
can  be  placed,  you  are  unable  of  yourselves  to  resist 
temptation,  and  to  perform  your  duty,  and  to  continue 
steadfast  in  the  path  of  obedience,  his  grace  is  given  that 
it  may  be  sufficient  for  you,  and  his  strength  is  perfected 
in  your  weakness.  So  that  in  this  part  of  the  arrange- 
ment also,  salvation  is  wholly  of  the  grace  of  God.  He 
not  only  restores  you  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  when 
he  might  have  left  you  to  perish,  but  he  produces  in  you 
that  holy  meetness  for  its  exercises  and  its  joys  which 
you  could  never  have  produced  in  yourselves,  and  with- 
out which  it  never  could  possibly  have  been  yours. 

In  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  it  is  by  grace  that 
ye  are  saved.  It  was  the  grace  of  God  which  provided 
salvation  for  the  fallen  race  of  Adam.  It  was  his  grace 
that  made  you  acquainted  with  it,  and  brought  it  within 
your  reach.  It  is  by  his  grace  that  you  are  effectually 
persuaded  to  embrace  it,  and  prepared  for  that  eternal 
blessedness  in  w'hich  it  terminates.  And  even  in  those 
circumstances  which  at  first  sight  may  be  thought  to 


SER.   1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  71 

modify,  and  to  limit  its  freeness  and  its  fulness,  we  can 
trace  not  only  additional  proofs  of  its  existence,  but  the 
most  gratifying  illustrations  of  its  tenderness,  its  riches, 
and  its  all-sufficiency.  '  ^ 

1.  To  those  of  you,  my  friends,  in  whose  personal 
experience  the  remarks  now  made  find  a  counterpart 
and  an  echo,  I  need  scarcely  say  that  the  subject  should 
inspire  you  with  gratitude.     You  know  what  it  is  to  be 
afar  off,  and  what  it  is  to  be  brought  nigh — you  know  the 
value  of  that  salvation  in  which  you  rejoice,  and  you 
know  that  it  all  emanates  from  the  grace  of  that  God 
whom  you  had  done  every  thing  to  offend,  and  could  do 
nothing  to  conciliate ;  and    knowing  these  things,  and 
feeling  them  too,  gratitude  must  be  a  sentiment  of  pre- 
vailing and  habitual  exercise  in  your  minds ;  you  must 
be  conscious  that  it  cannot  be  too  deeply  cherished  or  too 
strongly  expressed ;  you  must  lament,  that  it  is  so  dis- 
proportionate in  its  warmth  and  in  its  constancy,  and  in 
its  practical  influence  to  the  riches  of  that  saving  grace 
of  God,  for  which  it  is  so  justly  due.    That  you  may  be 
grateful  as  you  ought  to  be,  meditate  much,  and  medi- 
tate often  ou  this  great  truth,  that  all  your  safety,  all 
your  blessings,  all  your  expectations,  all  that  is  precious 
to  you  in  time  and  in  eternity,  comes  from  that  source 
alone.    And,  especially,  let  your  souls  rise  in  liveliest  and 
devoutest  fervor  to  the  merciful  Being  by  whose  grace 
ye  are  saved,  when  you  think  of  that  sacrifice  of  his  own 
Son  in  which  you  are  called  to  behold  at  once  the  reality 
of  his  love,  its  exclusive  operation  in  redeeming  you, 
the  vastness  of  its  extent  as  exhibited  in  the  costliness  of 
its  display,  and  the  wisdom,  and  the  efficacy  of  those 
means  by  which  it  has  secured  for  you  the  salvation 
which  it  so  liberally  bestows.     Let  your  souls  magnify 
the  Lord,  and  let  your  spirits  rejoice  in  God  your  Savior. 
In  those  moments  of  sacred  retirement,  when  you  hold 
communion  with  the  Father  of  your  spirits  and  the  au- 
thor of  your  salvation — and  while  on  the  family  altar, 
you  present  to  him  your  morning  and  your  evening  sac- 
rifices— and  while  in  the  tabernacles  of  his  house,  you 


72  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

unite  with  the  congregations  of  his  people  in  offering  to 
him  the  tribute  of  adoration  and  praise — and  while  you 
converse  with  one  another  in  the  house,  or  in  the  field, 
or  by  the  way,  of  the  beauties  of  his  character,  and  of 
the  greatness  of  your  privileges  and  your  hopes, — forget 
not  to  acknowledge  and  to  celebrate  the  magnitude  and 
the  liberality  of  that  mercy  which  he  has  shed  upon  your 
spiritual  lot,  and  with  which  he  has  brightened  your 
eternal  prospects.  And  though  the  infidel  is  disbeliev- 
ing it  all,  and  the  profligate  is  scoffing  at  it  all,  and  the 
worldling  is  neglecting  and  despising  it  all, — let  the  con- 
templation of  it  elevate  your  minds  with  emotions  of 
wonder  and  delight — let  your  experience  of  its  inesti- 
mable value  kindle  in  your  heart  the  ardors  of  recip- 
rocal and  devoted  affection — let  it  be  the  song  of  your 
pilgrimage,  whose  path  it  enriches  with  its  bounteous 
gifts,  and  whose  darkest  passages  it  cheers  with  its  great 
and  precious  promises — and  in  the  thanksgiving  of  every 
day  and  of  every  hour,  let  there  be  a  preparation  for 
enjoying  the  Halleluiahs  of  that  rapturous  and  everlast- 
ing anthem  which  all  the  redeemed  from  the  earth  shall 
sing  in  that  blessed  abode  which  mercy  has  provided 
for  them,  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from 
our  sins,  in  his  own  blood,  and  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  even  his  father — unto  him  be  glory  and  do- 
minion for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

2.  The  subject  we  have  been  considering  should 
teach  you  humility.  Were  you  permitted  to  think  that 
any  part  of  your  salvation,  however  inconsiderable,  was 
merited  or  wrought  out  by  yourselves,  this  thought 
would  generate  self-complacency  ;  and  from  the  natural 
tendency  of  the  heart,  your  own  share  in  the  work  will 
be  so  dwelt  and  doated  upon,  that  even  the  far  larger 
part  of  it,  which  you  could  not  but  ascribe  to  divine 
influence  and  interposition,  would  frequently  be  for- 
gotten, and  always  undervalued ;  and  thus,  though  un- 
worthy creatures,  you  would  be  high  minded  and 
proud,  and  give  place  to  that  passion,  which,  of  all 
others,  is  most  hateful  to  tlie  sovereign  God.     But  the 


SER.   1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  73 

scriptural  view  of  salvation,  which  we  have  been 
attempting  to  illustrate,  excludes  all  boasting,  by  taking 
away  all  ground  and  all  pretence  for  it.  All  that  is 
good  in  you  proceeds  from  the  Father  of  mercies : 
nothing  that  is  good  is  either  produced  or  nourished  by 
your  own  independent  energies.  Whatever  you  have, 
therefore,  of  excellence,  or  of  privilege,  or  of  happi- 
ness— whether  it  be  much  or  litde,  reads  you  a  lesson 
of  humility  :  if  a  vain-glorious  emotion  at  any  time  rise 
in  your  breast,  it  is  an  intruder,  and  must  be  expelled, 
for  it  is  settled,  that  you  possess  not  one  quality  to 
warrant  or  to  countenance  it :  and  as  thus  when  you 
give  the  glory  that  is  due  to  the  grace  of  God  by  which 
alone  ye  are  saved,  you  leave  nothing  in  your  own 
character  but  weakness,  imperfection,  ignorance,  guilt 
and  misery,  it  must  be  that  self-abasement  shall  take 
possession  of  your  minds,  that  you  shall  lie  low  in  dust 
and  ashes  before  Him  whose  fallen,  disobedient,  help- 
less creatures  you  are,  and  that  he  shall  see  in  you  that 
subdued  tone  of  thinking  and  feeling,  that  freedom  from 
all  pretensions  to  worth  and  power,  that  genuine  pov- 
erty of  spirit,  which  will  be  the  signal  for  communica- 
tions of  his  promised  grace,  and  make  you  fit,  because 
willing  and  eager  recipients  of  that  undeserved  bounty 
which  he  Is  so  ready  to  pour  out  upon  his  redeemed 
and  penitent  offspring.  Cherish  fondly,  then,  the  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by  free  grace ;  it  will  make  and  keep 
you  humble,  which  is  at  all  times  and  in  all  cases,  your 
appropriate  attitude  in  the  presence  of  God  ;  and  while 
it  is  thus  becoming,  it  will  also  prove  advantageous,  by 
leading  you,  in  the  exercise  of  that  humility  which  it 
inculcates,  to  seek  for  the  blessings  which  you  need, 
where  alone  they  are  ever  to  be  found,  in  the  rich  and 
inexhaustible  storehouse  of  his  own  sovereign  mercy. 
And  let  your  humility  be  deepened  by  a  frequent  con- 
templation of  the  Redeemer's  death.  That  death  is  a 
most  affecting  demonstration  of  your  helpless  and  un- 
done condition  by  nature,  and  by  wicked  works,  as  well 
of  the  riches  of  that  grace  which  interposed  in  your 
7 


74  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

behalf — because  if  you  had  not  been  without  all  merit, 
and  without  all  resource,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
God  would  have  given  up  his  own  dear  Son  to  the 
shame  and  agony  of  the  cross.  Measure  the  depth  of 
your  own  worthlessness,  by  the  depth  of  Christ's  hu- 
miliation. And  give  all  your  vain  and  lofty  imagina- 
tions to  the  winds.  Prostrate  yourselves  in  your  inmost 
spirit  before  the  footstool  of  your  God.  And  in  that 
attitude,  w^ait,  and  watch,  and  pray  for  that  grace  and 
more  abundant  communications  of  that  grace  of  His, 
which  alone  can  pardon,  and  purify,  and  exalt,  and 
save  you. 

3.  This  view  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  free 
grace  also  imparts  comfort.  It  imparts  comfort,  not 
merely  because  while  you  are  sinners  you  have  a  mer- 
ciful God  to  look  to  and  to  deal  with,  but  also  because 
the  merciful  God  takes  the  whole  charge  and  manage- 
ment of  your  salvation.  Just  suppose  that  any  part  of 
it  were  under  your  own  direction — that  you  had  some- 
thing to  do  either  in  the  formation,  or  in  the  execution 
of  its  plan — that  certain  points  in  your  treatment  of  it, 
or  in  its  apphcation  to  you,  had  been  intrusted  to  your 
care — would  not  this  have  made  room  for  failure,  either 
partial  or  total,  and  consequently,  for  distrust  and  fear- 
ful apprehension  ?  But  knowing  as  you  do,  that  the 
ignorance,  the  feebleness,  the  perversity,  the  corrup- 
tion of  fallen  man,  have  had  no  share  either  in  devising 
or  in  accomplishing  it — though  the  cure  and  removal 
of  these  evils  are  the  very  objects  at  which  it  aims — 
and  knowing,  moreover,  that  the  whole  of  it,  from  first 
to  last,  is  the  doing  of  the  Lord,  to  whom  no  imper- 
fection cleaves,  and  to  whom  no  attribute  is  wanting — 
all  fearfulness  as  to  the  result  is  out  of  place,  and  there 
is  the  greatest  encouragement  to  believe  that  it  will 
prove  as  certain,  as  it  promises  to  be  great  and  happy. 
The  grace  of  God  is  such  as  to  sustain  the  best  and 
brightest  hopes  that  fallen  man  can  entertain.  It  is 
rich,  tender,  abundant,  and  everlasting.  There  is  no 
evil  that  it  will  not  remove,  there  is  no  blessing  that  it 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  75 

will  not  confer.  It  delights  in  the  salvation  of  those 
on  whom  it  fixes  its  regards  and  sheds  its  influence  : 
and  will  withhold  from  them  nothing  that  is  good.  And 
then  it  is  united  in  its  exercise  with  every  other  per- 
fection that  inheres  in  Deity.  Its  purposes  are  devised 
and  executed  in  conjunction  with  a  wisdom  which  errs 
not — a  power  which  nothing  can  resist — a  knowledge 
which  embraces  all  the  wants  and  all  the  circumstances 
of  its  objects — a  justice  which  being  satisfied  by  the 
sm-ety  will  not  demand  satisfaction  from  the  sinner — 
and  a  faithfulness  which  will  perform  every  promise 
that  has  been  made,  and  will  not  leave  the  least  and  the 
poorest  of  those  about  whom  it  is  concerned,  till  they  are 
safely  lodged  in  the  mansions  of  the  blessed.  And  surely, 
my  Christian  friends,  you  have  in  this  a  consolation 
which  you  never  could  have  possessed,  had  any  portion 
of  the  scheme  of  your  salvation  been  committed  to 
yourselves,  or  to  the  best,  and  the  wisest,  and  the  most 
perfect  of  created  beings.  The  consolation  is  rich,  and 
precious,  and  free  from  all  admixture.  Take  it  then 
and  enjoy  it  in  all  its  fulness.  Amidst  the  many  vicis- 
situdes of  your  Christian  lot — amidst  the  darkness  that 
will  sometiaies  envelope  you — the  convictions  of  sin, 
and  the  ^ense  of  weakness,  and  perversity  that  will  often 
distress  you — the  temptations  and  the  hostilities  that  will 
occasionally  threaten  to  overwhelm  you — the  difficulties 
in  performing  your  duty,  and  in  holding  fast  your  integ- 
rity, which  will  frequendy  embarrass  and  perplex  you 
— the  misgivings  of  mind,  and  the  pressure  of  outward 
affliction  which  cannot  fail  to  visit  you — the  various 
hardships  of  life,  and  the  awful  approach  of  death  which 
necessarily  await  you — amidst  all  these  trials,  and  even 
when  every  thing  seems  to  wear  a  forbidding  and  a 
frightful  aspect,  let  this  be  your  refuge,  that  by  grace 
ye  are  saved — that  you  are  in- the  hands  of  God — that 
he  is  keeping  you  as  the  apple  of  his  eye — that  no  event 
can  frustrate  the  purposes  of  his  love  concerning  you — 
that  he  will  make  all  things,  even  the  worst  and  sever- 
est dispensations  with  which  you  can  be  overtaken, 


76  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

work  together  for  the  advancement  of  your  spiritual 
good,  and  of  your  eternal  felicity.  And  that  you  may 
be  prepared  for  taking  this  consolation  along  with  you 
as  you  travel  through  the  wilderness,  and  that  your  joy 
may  be  full  on  account  of  it,  even  to  overflowing,  open 
your  hearts  continually  to  the  impression  of  the  dying 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  was  the  grace  of  God  that  ap- 
pointed that  method  of  redemption.  Wondrous,  indeed, 
must  that  grace  have  been  which  prompted  him  to  make 
such  a  sacrifice  in  order  to  save  you.  Trust  in  it  now 
and  be  comforted — trust  in  it  forever,  and  be  forever 
happy.  Take  this  argument  along  with  you.  "  If  God 
spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  freely  delivered  him  up 
for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us 
all  things" — all  things  that  can  contribute  to  your  pres- 
ent safety,  and  secure  your  entrance  to  the  promised 
land.  Take  this  argument  along  with  you,  and  rejoice 
with  a  joy  that  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. 

4.  The  subject  we  have  been  considering  should 
consti^ain  us  to  cheerful  and  universal  obedience.  If 
the  grace  of  God  has  been  so  richly  displayed  towards 
you,  unquestionably  it  becomes  you  to  be  most  anxious 
and  diligent  in  doing  what  is  well  pleasing  to  him.  Re- 
member, besides,  that  one  essential  branch  of 'that  sal- 
vation which  the  grace  of  God  has  wrought  out  for  you, 
is  the  sanctification  of  your  heart  and  hfe,  so  that  if  you 
indulge  in  sin  or  be  careless  in  duty,  you  are  doing 
what  you  can  to  counteract  and  frustrate  the  great  pur- 
pose which  in  his  mercy  he  offers  to  accomplish  upon 
your  spiritual  and  eternal  condition.  And,  then,  you 
have  this  most  powerful  of  all  motives  and  considera- 
tions to  influence  you  to  activity,  and  devotedness,  and 
perseverance  in  the  path  of  righteousness,  that  the  same 
grace  which  has  promised  and  provided  salvation,  w^ill 
be  imparted  in  adequate  and  abundant  supply,  to  purify 
your  hearts,  to  regulate  your  conduct,  to  fortify  you 
against  temptation,  and  to  enable  you  to  perfect  holiness 
in  the  fear  of  God.  Be  resolved,  then,  not  only  to  be 
holy,  but  to  be  holy  in   all  manner  of  conversation — to 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  77 

consecrate  yourselves  to  the  service  of  Him  who  has 
loved  you — to  walk  closely,  and  constantly,  and  obe- 
diently with  God — and  to  live  in  this  manner,  to  "  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made 
you  accepted  in  the  Beloved."  And  let  your  resolu- 
tion to  act  thus,  as  those  who  have  "tasted  that  the 
Lord  is  gracious,"  be  strengthened  and  confirmed  by 
the  death  of  Christ.  For,  while  Christ  died^  to  fulfil 
the  purpose  of  God's  mercy  respecting  your  salvation, 
you  have  in  this  fact,  a  proof  solemn  and  affecting,  at 
once  of  the  greatness  of  that  mercy,  of  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin,  and  of  the  necessity  of  personal  purity, 
so  diat  you  cannot  rightly  meditate  on  the  death  of 
Christ  without  feeling  that  your  obligations  to  be  holy, 
are  powerful  and  constraining.  Bear  these  then 
upon  your  minds  :  strive  to  fulfil  them  faithfully  and 
fully.  And  in  every  part  of  your  future  conduct,  show 
that  you  are  not  only  admirers  but  partakers  of  the 
grace  of  God,  that  to  his  grace  you  sincerely  ascribe  all 
the  honors  of  your  salvation,  and  that,  depending  upon 
the  grace  by  which  ye  are  saved,  for  strength  as  well 
as  for  righteousness,  you  will  study  to  obey  God,  by 
being  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ,  "  in  whom  ye 
have  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." 

A  single  word  to  those  who  reject  the  salvation  of 
the  gospel,  and  despise  the  free  grace  by  which  it  is 
provided.  Remember  that  though  the  grace  of  God 
has  had  its  perfect  work,  his  justice  is  still  entire  to 
punish  those  who  rebel,  and  persist  in  their  rebellion. 
And  to  trample  and  set  at  nought  his  grace  must  tend 
only  to  aggravate  the  offence  by  which  his  justice  is 
already  roused,  and  to  increase  the  punishment  which 
it  has  already  denounced.  And  though  the  grace  of 
God  by  which  sinners  are  saved,  is  exceeding  rich, 
there  may  be  a  period,  though  unknown  to  us,  beyond 
which  it  will  not  extend;  and  if  you  are  obstinately 
withstanding  its  kind  and  melting  invitations,  it  may 
cease  to  wait  for  you,  and  at  length  abandon  you  to 
*7 


78  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.    1. 

hopeless  and  final  impenitence.  O  then,  be  persuaded 
to  surrender  yourselves  to  its  saving  power,  and  to  give 
yourselves  to  the  God  by  whom  it  is  manifested  !  "  Turn 
ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die." 

There   are  some  of  you,  1   fear,  whose   limbs   are 
trembling,  or   whose   heads  are  hoary  with  age,  and  to 
whom  one  pastor  after  another  has  addressed  the  mes- 
sage of  salvation   by  free  grace,  but  to  whom  that  mes- 
sage has  been  addressed  in  vain,  and  who  are  continu- 
ing to  live  as  if  there  were  no  justice   to  punish  you  for 
your  guilt,  or  as  if  there  were  no  grace   to  redeem  you 
from  it      Once  more  I  bring  this  message  to  you,  and 
beseech  you  to  listen  to  it,  before   your  feet  stumble  on 
the  dark   mountains,  and  death  approaches   to  put  his 
seal  upon  your  everlasting  fate.     Long  have  you  been 
wandering  away  from  God,  mocking  at  his  judgments, 
and  despising  the  compassionate  counsels  which  he  has 
given  you   in   his  word  and  sent  you  by  his  servants. 
And  if  you  persist   in  this  thoughtless  and  stouthearted 
course,  you    may  never  again   hear  a   warning   to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  it  is  but  a  short  and  pass- 
ing hour  when  you  must  go  into  that  place   where  God 
has   forgotten  to  be  gracious,  and  where   his  mercy  is 
clean  gone  forever.     But,  if  you  will  allow  yourselves 
to  be  persuaded,  and  even    at  this  latest  hour,  will  re- 
pent, and  believe,  and   obey,  the  gospel,  long  and  ob- 
stinately as  you  hav^e  been  fighting  against  the  authority 
of  God,  and  resisting  the  calls  of  his  pity,  I   am   w'ar- 
ranted   to   assure  you  of  acceptance  and   salvation,  be- 
cause the  blood  of  atonement,  on  which   he   beseeches 
you  to  rely,  cleanses  from  all  sin,  and  his  mercy  reaches 
far  enough   to   embrace  even  the   chief  of  sinners.     O 
then  be  reconciled  to  him   by  the   death   of  his   Son. 
Cast  yourselves  upon  his   unmerited,  but  never-failing 
love.     Lay  hold  of  salvation  as  his  free  gift.     And  let 
his  redeeming   grace  be  your  confidence  and  your  re- 
joicing and  your  hope  during  the  short  evening  of  your 
pilgi  'mage,  that  it  may  bear  you   comfortably  through 
the  agonies  of  your  departure,  and  carry  you   away  as 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  79 

trophies  of  its  riches  and  its  power,  to  the  glories  of  a 
better  world. 

And  if  you  are  young  and  healthful,  yet  count  not 
upon  the  years  and  the  opportunities  of  a  lengthened  life. 
At  whatever  time  you  are  saved,  it  must  be  by  grace. 
And  if  the  grace  of  God  is  now  bringing  you  salvation^, 
and  offering  it  to  you,  and  pressing  it  upon  you,  why 
will  you  delay  accepting  of  this  salvation,  as  if  it  were 
not  at  this  moment  as  valuable  and  as  necessary  as  it 
ever  can  be  at  any  future  peiiod  ?  The  longer  you 
defer  embracing  it,  the  more  hardened  will  you  become 
against  the  influences  of  that  grace  which  confers  and 
applies  it,  and  the  more  difficult  will  it  be  to  prevail 
upon  your  hearts  to  renounce  the  sins  which  now  pre- 
vent you  from  receiving  it,  and  to  acquiesce  in  the 
method  by  which  alone  you  can  become  the  happy 
partakers  of  it.  And  then  what  secuiity  have  you  that 
you  will  be  spared  till  that  chosen  hour  when,  perhaps, 
you  are  determined  that  you  will  seek  for  its  blessings, 
and  never  desist  from  the  pursuit  till  they  become 
yours?  You  have,  you  can  have  no  such  security. 
Sickness  of  body,  insanity  of  mind,  sudden  and  unex- 
pected death  may  come  upon  you,  and  eternally  shutout 
the  hope  of  making  one  effort  even  of  reliance  upon 
that  grace  of  God,  by  which  alone  you  can  be  saved, 
or  of  ever  again  hearing  the  doctrine  which  we  have 
been  urging  on  your  reception.  "  Ao?/;  is  the  accepted 
time — now  is  the  day  of  salvation" — listen  to  the  voice 
of  God  to-day,  and  harden  not  your  hearts.  Let  not 
another  sun  go  down  upon  your  impenitence  and  unbe- 
lief. Be  resolved  that  you  will  be  the  Lord's — that 
you  will  cleave  to  him  as  your  Saviour,  your  guide, 
your  portion,  and  your  all.  And  thus  surrendering 
yourselves  to  him  in  early  life,  he  will  make  goodness 
and  mercy  to  follow  you  all  your  days — at  whatever 
hour  he  calls  you  away,  the  arms  of  his  kindness  will 
be  underneath  you  and  round  about  you — and  as  he 
has  given  you  grace  here,  he  will  give  you  glory 
hereafter. 


80  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

Let  me  beseech  you  all  to  think  of  the  privileges  you 
enjoy,  and  of  the  account  you  are  to  render  ;  and  let 
me  especially  remind  you  who  belong  to  this  parish,  of 
the  new  relation  into  which  you  have  been  lately 
brought,  and  of  the  responsibility  connected  with  it. 
No  relation  can  be  more  important — no  responsibility 
can  be  more  awful.  My  young  friend,  to  whom,  as  a 
pastor  in  the  church  of  Christ,  your  spiritual  interests 
have  been  committed,  will  deceive  and  disappoint  me 
much,  if  he  do  not  preach  to  you  faithfully  and  earnestly 
the  sovereign  grace  of  God — the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ — the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  divine  mercy 
through  faith  in  a  crucified  Redeemer — and  the  neces- 
sity of  holiness  as  produced  by  the  renewing  and  sanc- 
tifying influences  of  the  Spirit,  and  as  extending  to  all 
the  aflections  of  the  heart,  and  to  all  the  actions  of  the 
life.  I  feel  confident  that  he  will  devote  himself  to  the 
sacred  and  momentous  work  which  has  been  driven  him 
to  do — that  he  will  cheerfully  spend  and  be  spent  in  the 
service  of  his  Divine  Master — that  he  will  be  instant, 
agreeably  to  the  apostle's  exhortation,  in  season  and  out 
of  season — that  he  will,  w^ith  all  anxiety,  administer  in- 
struction, and  warning,  and  reproof,  and  encourage- 
ment, and  consolation,  according  to  the  various  char- 
acters and  circumstances  of  his  people — that  in  all  these 
things  he  will  watch  for  your  souls  as  one  that  must 
give  an  account,  and  as  one  that  loves  you  for  Christ's 
sake  and  for  your  own.  I  trust  that,  feeling  the  weight 
of  those  obligations  under  which  he  has  come  as  a  min- 
ister of  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  your  watchman  and 
overseer  in  the  Lord,  he  will  make  it  the  business  of  his 
life — not  an  occasional  or  subordinate  work,  but  his 
grand  and  paramount  object,  in  which  his  whole  affec- 
tions are  engaged,  and  to  which  his  whole  energies  are 
consecrated — to  awaken  perishing  sinners  from  the  sleep 
of  spiritual  death,  to  comfort  them  that  are  mourning  in 
Sion,  to  build  up  the  saints  in  their  most  holy  faith,  and 
to  pre[)are  inhabitants  for  the  mansions  that  are  in  his 
Father's  house  above.     And  I  pray  that  whatever  dif- 


SER.    1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  81 

ficulties  and  trials  he  may  have  to  encounter  in  the  ar- 
duous office  upon  which  he  has  entered,  he  may  be 
enabled,  through  the  help  that  cometh  from  on  high,  to 
sustain  and  to  overcome  them  all ;  that  whatever  he 
may  have  to  suffer  from  gainsayers,  he  will  not  cease  to 
love  you,  and  to  pray  for  you,  and  to  labor  in  your  be- 
half; that  "none  of  these  things  will  move  him,"  and 
that  he  will  not  "  count  even  his  life  dear  to  him,  so 
tliat  he  may  finish  his  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry 
which  he  has  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God." 

But  think  not,  my  friends,  that  all  the  duty  and  all 
the  accountability  attach  to  him.  If  it  be  his  duty  to 
preach  to  you  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  of  godliness, 
and  to  strive  for  your  conversion,  and  salvation,  and 
happiness,  it  is  your  duty  to  receive  his  doctrines  in  the 
faith  and  the  obedience  of  them,  to  listen  to  his  voice  as 
he  calls  you  to  glory  and  to  virtue,  to  become  all  that 
the  gospel,  whose  message  he  delivers,  is  intended  to 
make  you,  and  to  show  in  your  practical  subjection  to 
tlie  righteousness  and  authority  of  Christ,  that  you  have 
not  received  the  grace  of  God  in  vain.  And  if  he  must 
give  an  account  of  himself  and  of  his  stewardsliip  to  the 
great  Master  of  that  vineyard,  in  a  corner  of  which  he  has 
been  appointed  to  work,  so  must  each  of  you,whetherold 
or  young,  whether  rich  or  poor,  whether  in  one  relation 
or  in  another — every  one  of  you  must  appear  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ,  to  answer  for  the  spirit  and  the 
manner  in  which  you  have  received  his  servant,  for  the 
value  which  you  have  put  upon  the  redemption  that 
your  pastor  offers  you  and  presses  upon  you  in  his  Mas- 
ter's name,  for  the  improvement  that  you  have  made 
of  all  the  undeserved  benefits  w^hich,  through  the  m'in- 
istry  of  the  gospel,  have  been  urged  upon  your  recep- 
tion by  all  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  and  by  all  the  com- 
passions of  him  who  died  for  you. 

And  O,  will  you  reject  the  provision  which  God's 
grace  has  made  for  the  life,  and  the  nourishment,  and 
the  felicity  of  your  never-dying  spirits  ?     Or,  will  you 


82  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  SER.   1. 

take  no  deep-felt  interest  in  the  scheme  of  everlasting 
salvation,  which  was  devised  in  the  eternal  counsels  of 
the  Godhead — which  was  purchased  with  a  price  that 
it  mocked  the  riches  of  a  universe  to  pay — which 
prophets  and  apostles,  and  evangelists  and  pastors,  have 
been  ordained  to  promulgate  and  administer  to  a 
guilty  world — and  which,  with  a  fulness  of  blessing  that 
imagination  cannot  fathom,  comes  as  a  suppliant  to 
your  very  door,  and  knooks  for  admittance  into  your 
very  heart  ?  Or  will  you  banish  from  your  view,  or 
will  you  lightly  esteem  that  period  of  coming  retribu- 
tion, at  which  God  wnll  reckon  with  each  one  of  you 
for  the  reception  you  have  given  to  a  preached  gospel 
and  an  offered  Saviour — when  he  who  now  beseeches 
you  by  the  agonies  of  his  cross  to  be  reconciled,  w^ill  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  righteous  judgment  to  award  your 
never-ending  doom,  and  when  assembled  myriads  will 
be  looking  on  to  see  you  taking  your  place  on  the  right 
hand  or  on  the  left  hand  of  the  great  white  throne,  and 
listening  to  the  voice  which,  louder  than  a  thousand  thun- 
ders, and  irresistible  as  omnipotence,  sends  you  to 
heaven  or  to  hell  ?  No,  ray  dear  friends,  I  trust  that 
none  of  you  is  thus  insensible  to  what  so  deeply  and  so 
necessarily  concerns  you,  now  ^nd  foi'ever.  Settle  it  in 
your  minds  at  this  moment ;  vow  it  in  your  inmost  soul; 
let  that  sun  which  now  looks  upon  you,  as  an  emblem 
of  him  who  called  himself  the  light  of  the  world,  witness 
the  engagement  which  you  make ;  let  the  God  whose 
eye,  brighter  than  all  the  luminaries  that  shine  in  the 
firmament,  penetrates  the  deepest  recesses  of  thought 
and  of  purpose,  and  whose  presence  encompasses  and 
pervades  you  ;  let  God  be  invoked  to  sanction  the  cov- 
enant into  which  you  now  enter — that  you  will  separate 
yourselves  from  the  world  that  lieth  in  wickedness  ;  that 
you  will  repair  to  the  foot  of  that  cross  on  which  Christ 
expiated  the  guilt  of  his  people  ;  that  there  you  will 
surrender  your  souls  and  your  bodies  to  the  redeeming 
power  and  to  the  sanctifying  grace  of  Jehovah  ;  that 
you  will  honor  those  whom  he  sends  to  leave  his  mes- 


SER.   1.  SALVATION    BY    GRACE.  83 

sage  and  plead  his  cause  with  you  ;  and  that,  with 
grateful  and  rejoicing  hearts,  you  will  walk  in  the  way 
that  he  points  out  as  the  way  that  leads  to  life  and  im- 
mortality. And  when  inward  corruption,  or  an  ensnar- 
ing world,  or  spiritual  enemies,  interfere  to  weaken  your 
faith  and  seduce  you  into  sin,  think  of  your  obligations 
— think  of  the  grace  by  which  alone  you  can  be 
saved — think  of  the  wounds  by  which  Jesus  takes  away 
your  transgressions — think  of  the  love  of  that  Holy 
Spirit  whom  your  backsliding  will  grieve — think  of  the 
sorrows  of  those  who,  desiring  you  to  be  their  crown  of 
joy  and  rejoicing,  must  mourn  and  weep  when  they  see 
your  falling  away — think  of  the  endless  ages  that  lie 
before  you ;  and  let  all  these  considerations  put  their 
interdict  upon  every  unbelieving  thought — upon  every 
unholy  desire — upon  every  forbidden  gratification  ;  and 
determine  you,  under  God,  to  remain  steadfast  in  the 
faith  of  the  gospel,  and  inflexible  in  your  adherence  to 
that  Saviour,  who  encourages  you  to  steadfastness  and 
perseverance  by  this  high  promise,  "Unto  him  that 
overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  upon  my  throne, 
even  as  I  also  overcame  and  am  set  down  with  my 
Father  upon  his  throne." 


SERMON    IL* 


HUMAN    AND    DIVINE    LOVE    CONTRASTED. 


ROMANS  V.  7,  8. 

^^  For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die;  yet 
per  adventure  for  a  good  man  some  would  even  dare 
to  die.  But  God  commendeth  his  love  toward  us,  in 
that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us^ 

God's  love  to  men,  in  its  various  relations,  and  in  its 
various  expressions,  is  the  great  and  prevalent  theme 
of  the  gospel.  The  gospel,  indeed,  is  altogether  a 
manifestation  of  that  love,  not  only  in  the  plan  which  it 
unfolds,  but  throughout  all  the  language  of  its  record. 
It  is  not  only  asserted  that  God  loves  us,  but  one  prin- 
cipal object  of  whatever  the  sacred  writers  have  been 
prompted  to  say,  appears  to  be  that  of  magnifying  the 
divine  attribute,  and  enhancing  the  estimation  in  which 
it  should  be  held  by  those  who  are  the  objects  of  its 
exercise.  And  they  do  so,  by  employing  simple  but 
emphatic  declarations — by  indulging  in  bold  and  strik- 
ing figures — and  by  having  recourse  to  interesting, 
familiar,  and  impressive  analogies. 

Of  this  latter  mode  of  showing  forth  the  greatness  of 
God's  love,  we  have  an  excellent  example  in  the  words 

*  Preached  at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  St.  George's 
Church,  Edinburgh,  10th  May,  1829. 


SER.  2.      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         85 

of  my  text.  The  apostle  draws  bis  illustration  from 
what  occurs  among  men — from  their  sentiments  and 
behavior  towards  those  of  their  own  species,  whom  they 
are  led  to  succor  or  befriend.  In  tlie  practical  regards, 
which  they  exhibit  for  one  another  in  circumstances  of 
danger,  or  in  times  of  need,  we  may  sometimes  be 
called  to  witness  an  extraordinary  display  of  generosity 
and  disinterestedness.  But  the  most  surprising  instance 
of  it,  which  has  actually  happened,  or  which  can  even 
be  expected  or  imagined  to  happen,  comes  far — comes 
infinitely — behind  that  love  to  our  race  which  God  has 
revealed  in  the  scheme  of  human  redemption.  On  com- 
parison, not  only  does  the  latter  infinitely  surpass  the 
former  in  degree,  but  it  possesses  a  richness,  and  it  flows 
in  a  direction,  and  it  engages  in  enterprises,  and  it  de- 
lights in  doings,  which  constitute  a  perfect  contrast  be- 
tween the  one  and  the  other,  and  represent  the  love  of 
God  to  man  as  belonging  to  a  higher  order  of  affections, 
than  the  love  of  man  to  his  fellow,  even  in  its  purest  and 
loftiest  achievements. 

Let  us  give  our  attention  for  a  little  to  this  important 
subject,  by  considering  the  tw^o  branches  separately, 
into  which  it  here  divides  itself,  and  the  relation  which 
they  bear  to  the  apostle's  object  in  bringing  them  under 
our  view. 

I.  First,  there  is  the  love  of  man  to  his  fellow-crea- 
tures. "  For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die  ; 
yet  peradventure  for  a  good  man  some  w^ould  even  dare 
to  die." 

In  the  annals  of  the  world,  you  may  find  instances 
of  generosity  and  of  gratitude,  in  which  these  sentiments 
were  manifested  by  the  greatest  of  all  personal  sacrifices 
— the  sacrifice  of  life.  But  such  instances  are  rare, — 
so  rare,  that  the  apostle  himself  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  aware  of  one  which  he  could  specify  as  authentic 
and  appropriate ;  for  he  speaks  here,  not  as  if  he  had  a 
matter  of  real  and  known  fact  in  his  eye,  but  only  as 
if  he  were  admitting  an  hypodiesis,  an  event  within  the 
boundsof  possibility  or  of  likelihood.  And,  with  all  your 
8 


86        HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.       SER.  2. 

knowledge  of  history,  even  since  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  has  engendered  the  spirit,  and  given  larger 
room  for  the  exploits,  of  a  nobler  philanthropy,  there 
are  but  few  among  you,  perhaps,  who  can  produce  a 
single  example  of  the  benevolent  heroism  to  which  w^e 
allude.  You  may  have  read  or  heard  of  frightful  dan- 
gers being  encountered,  poignant  sufferings  being  en- 
dured, and  extraordinary  alienations  of  wealth  or  power 
being  submitted  to,  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  others 
from  threatened  and  inevitable  destruction.  There  may 
be  cases  of  this  kind,  amounting  to  the  romantic  and  the 
splendid,  which  cannot  be  contemplated  without  admi- 
ration, and  which  redeem  our  species,  in  some  measure, 
from  the  stigma  of  that  selfishness  w^hich  is  generally 
imputed  to  it,  and  by  which  it  is  too  truly  character- 
ized. But  seldom  has  it  been  known,  that  any  one  has 
deliberately  devoted  himself  to  death,  in  order  to  de- 
liver his  fellow-mortal  even  from  the  heaviest  calamity, 
or  to  procure  for  him  even  the  most  precious  privilege. 
And  among  the  fev/  solitary  cases  of  this  kind,  with 
which  the  course  of  ages  has  furnished  us,  it  may  not 
perhaps  be  difficult  to  discover,  that  the  deed  which  has 
been  ascribed  to  generous  and  high-wrought  feehng, 
might  be  justly,  and  in  a  great  degree  at  least,  traced 
to  the  workings  of  self-love,  or  to  a  desire  for  posthu- 
mous fame,  or  to  some  other  motive  which  detracts 
from  the  w^ortli  and  purity  of  the  affection  that  was  sup- 
posed to  l3e  chiefly  operative. 

Granting,  however,  that  instances  could  be  adduced 
free  from  all  such  imperfection  and  alloy,  it  remains 
true,  that  wherever  the  elevated  spirit  in  question  has 
displayed  itself,  it  has  been  uniformly  a  tribute  paid  to 
distinguished  and  commanding  excellence,  or  in  ac- 
knowledgment of  obligations  too  strong  and  too  sacred 
to  be  satisfactorily  fulfilled  by  a  less  noble  or  a  less 
costly  recompense.  It  has  been  dictated  by  an  en- 
thusiastic and  worshipping  delight  in  pre-eminent  vir- 
tue, or  called  forth  by  such  experience  of  undeserved, 
and  unexpected,   and  unmeasured   kindness,  as  over- 


SER.  2.      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         87 

powers  every  consideration  of  ease  and  safety,  and  can 
be  contented  with  nothing  short  of  the  highest  and  most 
unbounded  expressions  of  reciprocal  attachment.  And, 
if  we  seek  for  it  animating  a  single  bosom,  or  giving 
birth  to  a  single  effort,  where  it  had  nothing  to  awaken 
it,  or  nothing  to  work  upon  but  moral  corruption,  base 
ingratitude,  bitter  hostility,  total  and  inveterate  worth- 
iessness — we  shall  seek  for  it  in  vain,  for  we  shall  seek 
for  that,  to  which  there  is  no  adequate  cause — no  coun- 
terpart in  the  rational  constitution  of  man — to  which  his 
judgment  and  his  sensibilities  are  in  thorough  opposi- 
tion, and  of  which,  therefore,  the  whole  earth  has  never 
afforded  the  slightest  proof,  or  been  visited  with  one 
sohtary  practical  illustration. 

"  Scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die."  Sup- 
pose an  individual  distinguished  by  the  strictest  princi- 
ples of  honor  and  integrity ;  who  had  ever  abhorred  the 
most  distant  approach  to  any  thing  that  savored  of  in- 
justice or  oppression  ;  who  had  exerted  himself  on  all 
occasions  to  maintain  the  rights,  and  redress  the  wrongs, 
of  others ;  and  who  not  only  had  committed  no  offence 
against  the  community,  but  whose  undeviating  rectitude, 
whose  righteous  deportment,  whose  immovable  fidelity, 
whose  defence  of  truth,  whose  practice  of  all  the  sterner 
virtues,  arising  from  the  fear  of  God  and  the  hatred  of 
every  thing  that  is  mean  or  base,  had  distinguished  him 
above  his  every  associate  and  fellow-citizen,  and  ren- 
dered him  the  object  of  profound  and  universal  vener- 
ation ;  suppose  that  such  a  person  had  long  filled  your 
eye  and  commanded  your  respect,  and  that  by  the  de- 
cree of  iniquity  or  of  despotism,  he  were  doomed  to 
expiate  an  imaginary  crime  on  an  ignominious  scaffold 
— which  of  you  would  step  forward  to  ward  off  his  fate, 
and  to  save  his  life  by  the  sacrifice  of  your  own?  Is 
there  one  in  the  whole  range  of  your  personal  acquaint- 
ance, or  is  there  one  of  all  the  multitude  that  books  and 
fame  have  brought  within  the  sphere  of  your  knowledge, 
whom  you  could  confidently  expect  to  pay  such  a  dif- 
ficult and  an  expensive  homage  to  moral  greatness  in 


88         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE   CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

the  form  of  fallen  humanily?  Or,  from  what  you  feel 
in  your  own  minds,  and  from  what  you  know  of  that 
nature  which  you  have  in  common  with  the  whole  pos- 
terity of  Adam,  could  you  anticipate  that  any  man,  with 
all  the  passionate  devotedness  he  might  be  conceived  to 
possess  to  whatsoever  things  are  true,  and  virtuous,  and 
venerable,  could  so  far  overcome  his  inborn  repugnance 
to  the  suffering  of  death,  as  that  he  would  willingly 
submit  to  it,  even  in  its  mildest  shape,  in  order  to  pur- 
chase an  exemption  from  the  evil  hr  him  who  had  been 
thus  long  and  deservedly  the  object  of  his  deepest  rev- 
erential regard?  No,  my  friends;  neitlier  expeiience, 
nor  observation,  nor  any  acquaintance  you  may  other- 
wise have  with  mankind,  will  justify  you  in  speculating 
on  such  an  instance  of  love,  as  coming  within  the  limits 
of  probability,  or  in  affirming  it  as  a  fact  which  has  at 
any  time  been  exhibited  to  the  world.  You  can  only 
allow  it  to  be  possible ;  and  say  with  the  apostle,  that 
"scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  v/ill  one  die." 

But,  supposing,  that  to  the  righteousness  of  this  indi- 
vidual, we  were  to  add  the  more  engaging  and  attractive 
graces  of  benevolence ;  supposing  that  he  shrunk  from 
the  very  idea  of  inflicting  pain  on  any  of  his  fellow- 
creatures — that  he  sympathized  with  all  the  children  of 
affliction — that  he  was  prompt,  and  liberal,  and  un- 
wearied, in  relieving  distress  wherever  it  was  to  be 
found — that  he  was  ever  ready  to  help  his  friends,  and 
to  forgive  his  enemies — that  he  delighted  in  scattering 
blessings  over  all  his  neighborhood,  and  diffusing  hap- 
piness throughout  the  whole  family  of  mankind — that 
the  poor  and  the  ignorant,  the  fatherless  and  the  widow, 
the  sorrowful  and  the  outcast,  found  in  him  a  refuge 
from  their  troubles,  and  a  solace  to  their  hearts — that 
he  was  distinguished,  in  short,  by  all  that  is  mehing  in 
tenderness,  by  all  that  is  winning  in  compassion,  by  all 
that  is  god-like  in  beneficence  ;  and  supposing  that  his 
goodness  had  not  been  able  to  screen  him  fiom  the 
tyrant's  violence,  but  had  only  seemed  to  hasten  his 
fall,  and  to  bring  upon  him  the  doom  of  most  unmerited 


SER.  2.      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         89 

destruction,  would  there  be  any  among  those  to  whom 
such  merciful  and  generous  characters  as  his  are  dear- 
est— would  there  be  any,  even  of  those  who  had  shared 
most  plentifully  in  the  kindness  that  he  felt,  and  in  the 
bounties  that  he  lavished,  and  over  whose  feelings  grat- 
itude had  acquired  the  most  undivided  ascendency, 
that  would  agree  to  be  his  substitute,  to  receive  the 
stroke  which  was  about  to  fall  upon  him,  and  to  expire 
amidst  shame  and  torture,  in  his  behalf?  Yes ;  you 
may  conceive  such  cases  to  occur.  There  is  some- 
thing within  us  which,  though  it  amounts  not  to  all  that 
is  requisite  for  the  heroism  that  is  imagined,  seems  to 
tell  us,  that  by  minds  of  greater  ardor  and  of  stronger 
nerve,  it  is  a  practicable  attainment.  And  it  is  believed, 
that  even  in  this  world — so  barren  of  sublime  morality 
— it  has  been  oftener  than  once  realized.  Still,  how- 
ever, the  apostle  speaks  correctly  when  he  says,  that 
it  is  only  "  some"  who  would  thus  die  for  a  good  man 
— that,  even  for  this  act  of  chivalrous  performance, 
there  would  be  required  a  '-daring"  of  which  man's 
breast  is  seldom  conscious — and  that  after  all,  the  fact 
must  be  qualified  with  a  "peradventure,"  as  if  it  were 
still  but  doubtful,  and  hardly  to  be  numbered  among 
the  higher  accomplishments  of  our  species,  or  among 
the  nobler  capabilities  of  our  nature. 

To  the  statement  of  the  apostle,  we  may  superadd 
the  statement  of  our  Lord  himself,  that  "  greater  love 
hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for 
his  friends."  This  is  the  utmost  limit  to  which  human 
affection  can  go.  No  higher  or  more  precious  exercise 
of  it  can  be  predicated  with  any  degree  of  certainty  and 
truth.  The  tie  of  friendship  is  strong  and  endearing. 
Those  whom  it  unites  have  a  mutual  sympathy  and  a 
mutual  complacency,  to  which  the  strongest  ordinary 
likings  and  alliances  bear  no  proper  comparison.  They 
have  a  community  of  attachments  and  aversions,  of  joys 
and  of  sorrows.  Their  hearts  are  knit  together,  as  if 
they  were  one.  It  is  misery  for  them  to  be  separated  in 
life,   and  greater  misery   still  to  be  divided   by  death. 


90         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE   CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

And  he  is  happiest  who  is  privileged  to  offer  the  larg- 
est sacrifices  for  the  welfare  and  the  safety  of  the  other, 
when  opportunity  occurs,  or  when  circumstances  re- 
quire. Under  such  impulse,  it  is  not  difficult  to  call 
up  cases  to  our  imagination,  and  it  may  not  be  impossi- 
ble to  discover  cases  in  history,  w4iich  hold  out  one  man 
risking  or  surrendering  his  life,  that  he  may  vindicate  the 
honor,  or  redeem  the  life,  of  another.  And  this  may  be 
still  more  readily  admitted,  if  we  consider  friendship  as 
comprehending  those  relationships  of  kindred,  which, 
binding  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  brother  and 
sister,  by  a  thousand  endearments,  render  delegated 
suffering  a  pleasure,  as  well  as  a  duty,  and  instinctively 
prompt  to  efforts  and  endurances,  from  whose  ample  range 
even  the  terrors  of  death  are  not  excluded. 

Now,  in  all  the  examples  to  which  we  have  referred, 
the  sacrifice  is  made  in  consideration  of  motives  that  arise 
from  worth  exhibited,  or  benefits  conferred,  or  obliga- 
tions of  some  kind  or  other  imposed,  by  them  on  whose 
account  it  has  been  demanded.  Scarcely  for  a  "righte- 
ous man"  will  one  die — peradventure  for  a  "good  man," 
some  will  even  dare  to  die — greater  love  hath  no  man  than 
this,  that  a  man  should  lay  down  his  life  for  "  his  friend." 
But  supposing  a  person  destitute  of  these  claims  on  gen- 
erous feeling — supposing  him,  on  the  contrary,  to  be 
iniquitous,  malevolent,  and  hostile  ;  supposing  him  to  be 
covered  with  moral  deformity  tliat  makes  him  loathsome, 
and  guilty  of  atrocious  crimes  committed  against  the  com- 
fort, the  reputation,  the  honor,  of  one  who  had  lavished 
upon  him  every  token  of  kind  regard,  who  had  treated 
him  with  the  confidence  of  a  friend,  with  the  affection  of  a 
brother,  with  the  tenderness  of  a  parent — and  supposing, 
that  for  all  his  demerit,  he  had  been  condemned  to  die 
and  under  his  sentence  of  condemnation,  cherished  as 
bitter  an  enmity,  and  expressed  as  determined  a  ven- 
geance, against  his  benefactor  as  he  had  ever  done  before 
— would  that  benefactor,  or  would  any  of  the  children  of 
men,  consent  to  occupy  his  room,  and  suffer  his  judicial 
fate,  in  order  to  send  him  back  again  to  the  life,  and  the 


SER.  2.      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         91 

liberty,  and  the  enjoyment,  which  he  had  so  justly  for- 
feited ?  Ah  !  no  :  that  is  a  height  of  love,  which  human- 
ity has  never  reached,  and  of  which  humanity  is  utterly 
incapable.  Philosophy  may  conjecture  it  as  possible, 
and  poetry  may  give  it  a  place  in  her  fictitious  delinea- 
tions. But  we  observe  not  the  seeds  or  elements  of  it 
in  the  moral  constitution  of  man.  In  vain  shall  we  search 
for  any  exemplification  of  it  in  the  annals  of  human  phi- 
lanthropy. The  scripture  represents  it  as  utterly  unattain- 
able. And  were  it  ever  to  occur,  ¥'e  should  be  com- 
pelled to  regard  it  as  a  miracle  not  less  striking:,  than  the 
most  wonderful  of  all  those  wonderful  works  which 
stamped  divinity  on  the  economy  of  IVloses,  and  on  the 
gospel  of  Christ. 

II.  But  that  which  man,  in  all  his  lov^e  to  his  brethren 
has  never  felt,  or  ofiered,  or  accomplished,  has  been 
realized  and  manifested  in  the  love  which  he  has  experi- 
enced from  the  holy  God.  "God  commendeth  his  love 
toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ 
died  for  us. 

The  love  of  God  is  illustrated  by  two  circumstances 
here  specifically  stated.  First,  "Christ  died  for  us;" 
and  secondly,  and  cMefiy,  he  "  died  for  us,  while  we 
were  yet  sinners." 

1.  "Christ  died  for  us."  The  apostle  could  not 
speak  of  God  dying  for  us,  which  would  liave  been  the 
exact  parallel ;  for  death  cannot  possibly  be  predicated 
of  him  wdio  is  eternal,  and  who  "  alone  hath  immortal- 
ity." In  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  indeed,  at  the  third 
chapter,  and  sixteenth  verse,  our  version  reads  thus — 
"Hereby  perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  he  laid 
down  his  life  for  us."  But  in  the  original,  it  is  not  "the 
love  of  God,"  but  merely  "the  love,"  or  "love;"  and, 
therefore,  we  should  rather  render  the  passage  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  : — "  Hereby  perceive  we  the  love  of  God 
in  Christ;  or  hereby  perceive  we  love — divine  love,  be- 
cause he,  in  whom,  and,  by  whom,  that  love  has  been 
manifested,  died  for  ns."  Or,  if  we  take  it  as  it  stands 
ia  our  version,  we  are  to  consider  it  as  ascribing  to  God 


92         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

what  strictly  and  properly  can  be  affirmed  only  of  Christ, 
— of  Christ  as  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  possessing 
the  divine  and  human  natures  in  mysterious  union,  jhe 
divine  nature  imparting  a  dignity  and  a  value  to  the  hu- 
man nature,  and  to  the  sufferings  and  death  that  it  en- 
dured, which  it  could  not  otherwise  have  had.  A  sim- 
ilar form  of  expression  is  found  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  at  the  20th  chapter  and  28th  verse,  where 
Paul  is  represented  as  saying  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus, 
"Take  heed,  therefore,  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the 
flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you 
overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which  he  hath  pur- 
chased with  his  own  blood."  In  the  rigid  sense  of  the 
terms  it  could  not  be  the  blood  of  God ;  but  it  was  the 
blood  of  "  Emmanuel,"  or  "  God  with  us,"  incarnate  in 
"  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  When  we  speak  of  the  "  arm" 
of  God,  we  mean  his  power:  when  we  speak  of  his 
"  eye,"  we  mean  his  omniscience  5  and  when  the  apostle 
speaks  of  his  "  blood,"  he  means  the  atonement  which 
was  made  for  sin  by  him,  who  was  God  and  man  in  one 
person,  and  whose  supreme  deity  gave  to  his  suffering 
humanity  its  virtue,  for  the  expiation  of  human  guilt. 

When,  therefore,  it  is  said,  in  the  words  of  our  text, 
as  a  proof  of  God's  love,  that  "  Christ  died  for  us,"  we 
must  remember,  exactly  and  impressively,  who  Christ 
was,  as  well  as  what  he  did.  He  died  for  us  that  he 
might  take  away  our  sin,  and  make  reconciliation  for 
our  iniquity.  And  we  cannot  estimate  sufficiently  the 
pains  and  the  ignominy  of  tliat  death,  to  which  he  sub- 
mitted, as  the  punishment  that  was  due  from  holy  and 
incensed  omnipotence,  to  a  rebellious,  degenerate,  and 
guilty  world.  But,  in  viewing  it  as  a  manifestation  of 
divine  love,  it  is  necessary  to  recollect  the  intimate  con- 
nexion, which  God  had  with  it.  The  scheme,  of  which 
it  formed  the  leading  feature  and  the  essential  principle, 
was  altogether  of  his  appointment. 

"  He  so  loved  the  world,  as  to  give  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  might  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."     And  in  reference  to  his  incar- 


SER.  2.      HUMAN  AND  DIVlNE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.  93 

nate  Son  becoming  a  sin-offering  for  us,  he  is  said  to 
have  "  laid  ujDon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,"  and  to  have 
"  set  him  forth  as  a  propitiation  for  our  sins  through  faith 
in  his  blood.'  And,  while  God  was  thus  so  gracious,  as 
to  devise  a  plan,  by  which  our  souls  might  be  redeemed 
through  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  it  becomes  us  to  think  of 
the  relation  in  which  Christ  stood  to  him.  Christ  w^as 
not  the  creature,  nor  the  mere  servant  of  God,  but  "  his 
Son,  his  only  begotten  and  well  beloved  Son,  the  bright- 
ness of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person." 
Yet,  though  thus  possessed  of  all  die  attributes  of  divin- 
ity, and  forming  the  object  of  the  ineffable  complacency 
and  love  of  his  Father,  God  did  "not  spare  him,"  but 
prepared  a  body  for  his  inhabitation,  sent  him  to  sojourn 
in  our  evil  world,  made  him  "  a  man  of  sorrows  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief,"  and  then  "  freely  delivered  him  up 
to  the  death  for  us  all."  So  that,  "  in  this  was  mani- 
fested the  love  of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent 
his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live 
through  him." 

2.  But  the  principal  evidence  of  God's  love  to  us  is 
contained  in  the  fact,  that  Christ  died  for  us,  "  while  we 
were  yet  sinners." 

Had  the  nature  and  character  of  man  been  such,  as 
that  the  eye  of  God  could  have  looked  on  him  with 
complacency — had  there  existed  in  him  a  paramount  dis- 
position to  keep  the  divine  commandments,  and  to  pro- 
mote the  divine  glory — had  he  followed  such  a  course 
of  obedience  as  at  once  conformed  to  the  will,  and  re- 
flected the  image  of  him,  who  is  "  glorious  in  holiness 
— or,  having,  through  the  power  of  temptation,  fallen 
from  his  allegiance,  had  the  feelings  of  penitential  regret 
and  sorrow  pervaded  his  heart,  and  made  him  willing  to 
return  to  the  path  he  had  forsaken,  and  to  regain  the 
favor  he  had  lost;  and,  amidst  numerous  failings  and 
transgressions,  had  there  been  a  resolute  striving  to  ren- 
der any  portion  of  that  submission  w^hich  the  great  Ruler 
of  the  universe  must  ever  require  from  the  rational  sub- 
jects whom  he  governs — had  these  been  the  circumstan- 


94         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

ces  of  the  case,  we  should  not  have  been  amazed  by 
any  degree  of  condescension  and  of  pity  which  appeared 
in  God's  administration  towards  the  human  race.  Mys- 
terious and  adorable  as  the  incarnation  of  his  own  Son, 
and  its  accompanying  course  of  humiliation,  must  have 
been  in  our  esteem,  whatever  gave  rise  to  such  an  act 
of  benignity,  still  we  should  have  observed  in  the  objects 
whom  it  regarded,  the  qualities  that  seemed  to  merit  or 
to  justify  it,  on  the  ordinary  principles  of  moral  rectitude 
and  consistency.  But  the  marvel  lies  in  this,  that  there 
was  no  good  desert — no  amiableness  of  disposition — no 
excellence  of  conduct — no  compunction  for  offence,  and 
no  desire  of  reformation — to  attract  the  regards  of  a 
holy  being,  and  to  invite  a  willing  interposition  of  his 
benevolence.  On  the  contrary,  there  was  worthlessness, 
there  was  guilt,  there  was  perversity,  and  such  a  degree 
of  these  odious  qualities,  as  to  alienate  kind  affection — 
to  })rovoke  a  just  indignation — to  warrant  an  utter  ex- 
clusion from  happiness  and  from  hope.  It  was  this 
barrier  which  lay  between  God  and  his  apostate  off- 
spring ;  and  in  surmounting  it,  he  has  outstripped  all  the 
doings,  and  all  the  conceptions  of  man,  respecting  the 
exercise  of  compassion  between  one  intelligence  and 
another,  and  caused  us  to  wonder  and  to  worship  at  the 
extent  of  that  love,  which  he  has  embodied  in  the  death 
of  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

We  were  "  yet  sinners,"  when  Christ  died  for  us. 
We  were  not  only  undeserving  of  a  single  token  or  com- 
mimication  of  good  will,  but  corrupt  and  vile  throughout 
every  department  of  our  moral  frame,  and  throughout 
the  whole  extent  of  our  moral  practice.  We  had  in- 
curred the  displeasure  of  "  him  who  is  of  purer  eyes 
than  to  behold  iniquity,"  and  who  "  hates  all  the  work- 
ers of  it  with  a  perfect  hatred,"  and  had  fully  merited  the 
penalty  with  which  he  had  righteously  armed  and  sanc- 
tioned his  law.  We  had  no  sincere  regret,  no  genuine 
abasement,  no  penitential  visitings  of  the  soul,  to  melt 
his  indignant  eye,  to  arrest  his  avenging  arm,  to  stay  his 
coming  wrath,  to  bespeak  his  relentings,  and  his  long 


SER.  3.      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         95 

suffering,  and  his  sparing  mercy.  And  having  trampled 
on  his  ri(;h  goodness,  as  well  as  disobeyed  and  insulted 
his  dread  authority,  we  had  thus  arrayed  against  us  that 
very  attribute  on  which  alone  we  could  have  depended, 
and  to  which  alone  we  could  have  appealed.  So  that 
had  our  own  case  been  presented  to  us  in  all  its  melan- 
choly details  and  bearings,  and  had  we  judged  of  it  by 
the  feelings  of  man  to  man,  and  the  treatment  of  man 
by  man  within  the  whole  range  of  human  consciousness 
and  experience,  we  must  have  at  once  concluded,  that 
if  such  an  arrangement  as  the  death  of  Christ  for  sin- 
ners was  necessary  for  their  redemption,  the.  favor  of 
God  which  they  had  lost  by  transgression  they  had  lost 
for  ever,  and  that  nothing  awaited  them  but  punish- 
ment, and  misery,  and  despair. 

But  there  are  resources  in  the  eternal  mind,  which 
are  equally  beyond  our  reach  and  our  comprehension. 
There  is  a  power  and  a  magnitude,  and  a  richness  in 
the  love  of  God  towards  those  upon  whom  it  is   set,  to 
which  the  love  of  the  creature  cannot  even  approximate, 
of  which  the  imagination  of  the  creature  could  not  have 
formed  any  previous  idea,  and   which,  even  to  the  ex- 
perience of  the  creature,  presents  a   subject  of  inscru- 
table  mystery — a  theme  of  wondering  gratitude   and 
praise.     Man   may  love,  man  should  love,  man  must 
love  his  fellows;  but  he  never  did,  and  never  can  love 
them  like  God.     His  is  a  love  that  throws  man's  into 
the  distance  and  the  shade.     Had  he  only  loved  us  as 
man   loves,  there   would   have   been  no   salvation — no 
heaven — no  felicity  for  us — no  glad  tidings  to  cheer  our 
hearts; — no  promised  land  on  which  to  fixi)ur  antici- 
pations— no  table  of  commemoration  and  of  communion 
spread  for  us  in  the  wilderness,  to  refresh  us  amidst  the 
toils,  and  the  languishings,  and  the  sorrows  of  our  pil- 
grimage thither.     His  violated  law  must  have  taken  its 
course  ;  the  vials  of  his  wrath  must  have  been  poured 
out;  and  everlasting,  unmitigated  ruin  must  have  been 
our  portion.     But  behold !  God   is  love  itself;  and  his 
love  in  all  its  workings,  and  in  all  its  influences,  and  in 


96         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

all  its  effects,  can  stoop  to  no  parallel  with  the  best  and 
most  ardent  of  human  affections.  Guilt,  which  forbids 
and  represses  man's  love,  awakens,  and  kindles,  and 
secures  God's.  Death  for  the  guilty  is  too  wide  a  gulf 
for  man's  love  to  pass  over.  God's  love  to  the  guilty 
is  infinitely  "stronger  than  death,"  and  spurns  at  all 
such  limits,  and  smiles  at  the  agonies  and  the  ignomin- 
ies of  a  cross,  that  it  may  have  its  perfect  work.  God, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  love  towards  our  sinftd  and  mis- 
erable race,  is  concerned,  where  man  would  be  un- 
moved, indifferent,  and  cold.  God  is  full  of  pity,  where 
man  would  frown  with  stern  and  relentless  aversion. 
God  forgives,  where  man  would  condemn  and  punish. 
God  saves,  where  man  would  destroy.  "  While  we 
were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us"  Well  may  we 
ask,  "  Is  this  the  manner  of  man,  O  Lord  God  ?"  And 
well  may  God  answer,  "  My  thoughts  are  not  your 
thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways  ;  for  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways 
higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your 
thoughts."  And  well  may  we  exclaim,  "  Herein, 
indeed,  is  love ;  not  that  we  loved  God — but  that  he 
loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins."  "  O  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and 
height  of  the  love  of  God  and  of  Christ ;  it  passeth 
knowledge  !" 

We  cannot  enter,  at  present,  into  a  full  application 
of  the  interesting  subject,  which  we  have  endeavored 
to  illustrate.  But  our  time  has  been  occupied  to  little 
purpose,  and  we  must  be  very  unsusceplihle  of  good 
impressions,  if  all  that  we  have  offered  to  your  atten- 
tion be  allowed  to  pass  away  as  a  dreamy  or  useless 
speculation,  and  if  we  do  not  more  or  less  experience 
its  practical  influence  in  our  minds,  and  manifest  it  in 
our  conduct.  There  is  no  theme  more  deeply  affecting 
than  the  love  of  God,  as  revealed  and  set  forth  in  the 
death  of  Christ  for  sinners.  It  embraces  all  our  per- 
manent interests,  [t  is  fitted  to  exert  a  happy  and  im- 
proving power  over  the  whole  of  our  Christian  charac- 


SER.  2,      HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.         97 

ter.  It  is  fraught  with  the  richest  consolation  which 
can  be  needed  by  us,  or  administered  to  us,  in  our  cir- 
cumstances of  sinfulness,  and  danger,  and  distress. 
And  whatever  imperfections  may  attach  to  our  illustra- 
tions of  it,  the  simple  fact  announced  in  the  text,  is 
such  as  to  teach  us  many  useful  lessons,  and  to  exert 
upon  us  many  salutary  induences,  unless  we  are  strongly 
cased  in  inlidelity  and  impenitence.  And  O,  if  even 
our  infidelity  and  impenitence  will  not  melt  away  at  the 
contemplation  of  God's  rich  and  ineffable  love  to  our 
guilty  race,  how  aggravated  must  be  our  condemnation, 
and  how  utterly  hopeless — how  impenetrably  dark — 
how  superlatively  wretched,  must  be  all  our  future 
prospects !  But  if  the  love  of  God  be  felt  by  us  in  all 
its  importance,  and  in  all  its  power,  it  will  constrain  us 
to  accept  the  boon  it  has  provided  for  us  at  such  a  costly 
rate,  and  to  prize  the  salvation  which  comes  thus 
recommended  to  us,  as  of  inestimable  value.  It  will 
stir  us  up  to  love  God  in  return — to  feel  for  him  a  love 
which  will  fill  and  pervade  the  heart,  which  will  lead 
us  to  seek  and  to  take  delight  in  holding  spiritual  inter- 
course with  him,  and  which  will  be  embodied  in  our  life 
and  conversation,  determining  us  to  devote  ourselves 
cordially  and  constantly  to  the  service  of  him  who  has 
redeemed  us  in  his  love  and  in  his  pity,  that  we  might 
be  to  him  a  holy  people.  It  will  encourage  us  to  con- 
fide in  God  for  every  blessing  that  we  need,  and  to 
confide  in  him  even  when  appearances  would  indicate 
that  he  has  forgotten  us  or  cast  us  off;  for  the  truth  con- 
tained in  the  text  is  incompatible  with  any  disposition  on 
his  part  to  refuse  us  whatsoever  our  necessities  may  re- 
quire. "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  freely 
delivered  him  up  to  the  death  for  us  all,  how  shall  he 
not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things ;"  and  how 
can  he  ever  leave  or  forsake  those  whom  he  thus  pur- 
chased at  the  price  of  blood,  so  precious  and  divine. 
And  finally,  it  will  make  us  embrace  every  opportunity 
of  celebrating  its  greatness,  of  proclaiming  our  sense  of 
those  obligations  under  which  it  has  laid  us,  of  exercis- 
9 


98         HUMAN  AND  DIVINE  LOVE  CONTRASTED.      SER.  2. 

ing  all  those  sentiments  which  it  naturally  inspires,  and 
of  pledging  ourselves  to  all  that  conduct  which  it  both 
prescribes  and  exeniplifies.  In  the  good  providence  of 
God,  that  opportunity  is  now  before  us.  Let  us  cheer- 
fully and  gratefully  avail  ourselves  of  it.  Let  us  sit 
down  at  a  communion  table  w^ith  hearts  overflowing 
with  love  to  Him  who  first  loved  us,  and  who  loved  us 
in  the  midst  of  our  unworthiness,  and  who  loved  us  even 
to  the  death.  Let  us  exercise  a  vigorous  and  a  lively 
faith  in  the  merit  of  that  great  atonement,  which  the 
wisdom  of  God,  in  furtherance  of  the  love  of  God,  has 
appointed  for  cancelling  our  guilt,  and  establishing  our 
peace  and  hope.  Let  us  be  filled  with  sentiments  of 
profound  humility  and  godly  sorrow^,  as  we  read,  in  the 
memorials  of  Christ's  death,  the  evil  and  the  bitterness 
of  sin  which  rendered  it  necessary,  and,  to  take  away 
which,  its  shame  and  its  agonies  were  endured.  Let 
us  abound  in  joy  when  we  meditate  on  the  fruitful  and 
inexhaustible  mercy,  which  we  are  called  to  remember 
as  we  shew  forth  the  Lord's  death,  and  from  which  we 
are  emboldened  to  draw  consolation  and  encourage- 
ment, and  a  liberal  and  constant  supply  to  every  neces- 
sity that  can  possibly  occur  in  our  lot.  And  having 
experienced  the  love  of  God  in  giving  Christ  to  the 
death  for  uh,  let  us  rest  upon  the  promise,  that  this 
divine  Saviour  will  come  again — that  he,  whom  we 
commemorate  as  having  once  suffered  for  our  trans- 
gressions, will  appear  hereafter,  and  ere  long,  to  give 
us  complete  and  eternal  redemption,  and  that,  having 
rescued  us  from  the  dishonors  of  the  grave,  and  clothed 
us  w^ith  the  robe  of  immortality,  and  introduced  us  into 
the  incorruptible  inheritance  of  his  Father's  kingdom, 
he  will  give  us  in  our  everlasting  experience  to  under- 
stand the  full  meaning,  and  will  tune  our  hearts  for 
pouring  forth  the  rapturous  strains  of  that  high  anthem, 
*'Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  even  his  Father;  to  him  be  glory  and  domin- 
ion forever  and  ever.     Amen." 


EXHORTATION    AFTER    THE    COMMUNION, 


At  the  close  of  the  solemn  service  in  which  it  has 
been  your  privilege  at  this  time  to  engage,  permit  me, 
my  friends,  to  address  to  you  a  few  exhortations,  suited 
to  the  circumstances  in  which  you  are  placed. 

And  first,  let  me  observe,  that  if  there  be  any  in  this 
assembly  who  have  not  only  withheld  themselves  from 
the  Lord's  table  on  the  present  occasion,  but  are  habit- 
ually chargeable  with  such  neglect,  they  are  surely  the 
objects  of  deep  commiseration.  I  speak  not  of  those 
who  are  kept  back  by  conscientious  motives — who 
really  desire  to  engage  in  the  work  of  solemn  com- 
munion, but  abstain  from  it  because  they  are,  in  their 
own  considerate  judgment,  undeserving  of  such  a  high 
privilege.  To  persons  of  this  description  I  would  feel, 
and  exercise,  all  manner  of  Christian  forbearance  and 
kindness.  I  approve  of  their  delicacy  of  conscience 
and  their  humility  of  spirit.  I  would,  at  the  same  time, 
direct  them  to  cherish  more  engaging  views  of  their 
Saviour's  love  ;  and  not  to  consider  the  lowliest  convic- 
tions of  their  own  unvvorthiness  as,  in  any  measure, 
inconsistent  with  the  liveliest  dependence  upon  his 
merits.  I  would  encourage  them  to  regard  the  ordi- 
nance as  intended  for  weak  and  timid  "  babes,"  as  much 
as  for  "  perfect  men  in  Christ  Jesus."  T  would  hope 
that,  by  persevering  in  prayer,  and  by  following  on  to 
know  the  Lord,  and  by  setting  themselves  to  acquire 
more  correct  and  scriptural  views  both  of  the  nature  of 
the  institution  and  of  the  character  of  its  Author,  they 
will  ere  long  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  observe  it 
without  any  slavish  dread  of  offending  God,  or  of  sin- 
ning against  their  own  souls.     And  I  would  only  caution 

*  Addressed  to  the  conejregation  of  St.  Gcorg-e's  Church,  Edinburgh, 
after  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  10th  May,  1829. 


100  EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  C05IMUNI0N. 

them  against  yielding  to  those  groundless  and  super- 
stitious scruples,  that  sometimes  tempt  the  believing  and 
the  good,  to  shrink  from  a  service  in  which  they  are 
called  to  honor  their  Redeemer,  to  partake  of  the  rich- 
est blessings  of  the  gospel,  and  to  advance  the  interests 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  in  the  world.  At  present, 
however,  I  allude  to  those  who  have  no  cordial  wish  to  be 
communicants — who  do  not  think  of  aspiring  to  the  duties 
and  the  privileges  of  that  character — who  allow  every 
successive  opportunity  of  going  to  the  Lord's  table  to 
pass  away  from  them  unimproved  and  unheeded — and 
who  continue  in  this  negligence  from  year  to  year, 
through  indifference,  or  contempt,  or  worldly-minded- 
ness,  or  practical  infidelity.  It  is  of  these  tliat  I  now 
speak;  and  every  real  Christian  will  unite  with  me  in 
saying,  that  they  are  objects  of  deep  commiseration. 
They  are  living  in  obstinate  disobedience  to  the  express 
and  dying  commandment  of  him,  who  has  "  all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth."  They  are  callous  to  the  im- 
pressions of  that  ineffable  love  which  he  manifested  in 
dying  for  their  eternal  redemption.  They  reject  w-ith 
disdain  the  means  which  divine  wisdom  has  appointed 
for  supporting  the  life,  and  promoting  the  nourishment 
and  comfort,  of  his  church.  They  proclaim  their  want 
of  those  principles  and  dispositions  to  which  the  prom- 
ises of  glory  are  annexed,  and  their  hostility  to  that 
system  of  grace  by  which  alone  they  can  be  delivered 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  And,  if  there  be  any  truth 
in  Christianity,  they  are  yet  in  their  sins — "  without 
God  and  without  hope."  O  ye  to  whom  this  melan- 
choly description  applies,  blame  us  not  when  we  de- 
clare, that  you  are  the  objects  of  our  pity.  It  is  not 
from  any  sentiment  of  proud  scorn,  or  of  haughty 
superiority,  that  w^e  say  this.  We  feel  compassion  for 
your  state,  because  we  see  you  despising  the  great  sal- 
vation— far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven — and  w-alking 
in  the  broad  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction.  We 
would  pray  for  you — that  tlie  Spirit  of  all  grace  may 
enlighten  your  mind,  and  subdue  the  perversity  of  your 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    101 

will,  and  bring  you  under  subjection  to  the  righteousness 
and  the  law  of  Christ.  We  would  beseech  you  to  stop 
short  in  your  career  of  thoughtlessness  and  folly — to 
reflect  seriously  on  what  is  past,  and  to  think  solemnly 
of  what  is  to  come — and  to  mind  the  things  which  be- 
long to  your  peace,  before  they  be  forever  hid  from 
your  eyes.  And  we  would  hold  up  to  view  the  ordi- 
nance you  have  been  disregarding,  as  exhibiting,  in  the 
death  and  mediation  of  Christ,  the  only  way  by  which 
you  can  return  to  God,  and  obtain  eternal  life;  and  as 
denouncing,  at  the  same  time,  through  the  sorrows  and 
ignominies  of  the  cross,  that  awful  retribution  which 
awaits  those  who  reject  the  salvation  of  the  gospel,  and 
will  not  have  Christ  to  rule  over  them. 

But  we  fear  that,  even  to  some  who  have  been  at 
the  Lord's  table,  we  must  speak  the  language  of  warn- 
ing and  rebuke.  It  is  refreshing,  indeed,  to  see  such  a 
goodly  number,  as  we  have  seen  this  day,  setting  at 
defiance  the  scorn  of  unbelieving  men,  and  keeping  in 
remembrance  the  death  and  the  cross  of  their  Redeemer. 
Yet  we  know  that  "  all  are  not  Israel  who  are  of 
Israel" — that  the  profession  of  Christianity  and  Chris- 
tianity itself  are  far  from  being  inseparably  connected — 
that  not  every  one  who  says  unto  Jesus,  however  pub- 
licly and  however  solemnly,  Lord,  Lord,"  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  I  would  therefore  speak 
to  you  in  the  spirit  and  in  the  language  of  a  wholesome 
and  affectionate  jealousy.  I  would  ask  you,  from  what 
motives,  and  in  what  manner,  you  have  engaged  in  the 
work  of  sacred  communion  ?  Have  you  done  it  in  mere 
compliance  with  the  wishes  of  your  friends,  or  from 
mere  conformity  to  the  custom  of  die  place?  Have 
you  done  it  that  you  might  acquire,  or  that  you  might 
support,  a  good  reputation  in  the  world  ?  Have  you 
done  it  in  order  to  conceal  from  the  eye  of  suspicion 
and  observation  some  defect  or  some  sin  that  you  wish 
not  to  be  known  ?  Or  have  you  done  it  with  the  un- 
scriptural  view  of  atoning  for  your  past  wickedness,  and 
laying  up  a  stock  of  merit  for  the  time  to  come  ?  Have 
*9 


102    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

you  made  no  preparation  for  the  solemnity  in  which  you 
have  been  engaged  ?  Have  you  entered  into  no  pre- 
vious examination  of  your  heart,  and  your  character, 
and  your  spiritual  state?  Have  you  come  to  the  Lord's 
table  with  thoughtlessness  and  indifference?  Have  you 
sat  down  in  ignorance  of  the  nature  and  purposes  of  the 
institution  ?  Have  you  shewed  forth  the  death  of  Christ 
without  any  lively  faith  in  his  merits — without  any  cor- 
dial hatred  of  sin,  which  caused  his  sufferings — without 
any  decided  resolution  to  forsake  the  iniquities  from 
which  they  were  endured  to  redeem  you — without  any 
conscious  love  to  your  God  and  Saviour — without  any 
kind  and  forgiving  affection  towards  your  fellow-men — 
without  any  purpose  of  devoting  yourselves  to  the  ser- 
vice and  glory  of  him  who  has  done  so  much  for  your 
salvation  ?  Have  your  imaginations  been  allowed  to 
w^ander  on  the  mountains  of  vanity,  and  your  affections 
to  settle  on  the  pursuits  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  when 
they  should  have  been  raised  to  the  heaven,  and 
stretched  forward  to  the  immortality,  to  which  the  doc- 
trine of  a  communion-service  naturally  taught  you  to 
aspire  ?  Are  these  the  motives  which  have  influenced 
you,  and  is  this  the  manner  in  which  you  have  acted  on 
the  present  occasion  ?  Then  you  have  not  partaken  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  in  a  true  and  spij-itual  sense.  You 
have  been  "  eating  and  drinking  unworthily."  You 
have  profaned  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ.  And 
though  God  may  not  inflict  upon  you  visible  judgments, 
as  he  did  on  the  Corinthian  church,  yet,  as  the  God  of 
ordinances,  and  as  a  jealous  God,  he  will  not  permit 
you  to  be  thus  hypocritical  or  profane  with  impunity, 
and  he  will  assuredly  punish  you  for  it,  except  you 
repent.  "Repent,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that 
this,  your  great  sin,  may  be  blotted  out."  Apply  for 
pardon,  through  faith  in  that  sacrifice,  which  you  have 
tieated  with  so  much  levity  and  contempt.  Beseech 
God  to  cleanse  you  from  every  carnal  view,  and  to  give 
you  all  the  graces  of  his  Spirit.  And  be  resolved  that, 
henceforth,    every  returning    communion,  which   you 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.  103 

may  be  permitted  to  see,  shall  find  you  ready  to  partake 
of  it  with  clean  hands,  and  pure  hearts,  and  earnest  de- 
sires to  be  "  found  of  God  in  peace,  without  spot  and 
blameless." 

On  the  other  hand,  does  your  conscience  tell  you 
that  your  motives  have  been  good — that  you  have  come 
to  the  Lord's  table  from  regard  to  the  commandment  of 
Christ — from  gratitude  and  love  to  him  as  your  Re- 
deemer— from  a  desire  to  promote  the  honor  of  his 
name  and  the  interests  of  his  gos|)el — and  from  a  be- 
coming wish  to  advance  your  own  spiritual  comfort  and 
improvement?  Did  you  examine  yourselves  as  to  your 
fitness  for  the  communion  service?  and  did  you  find 
that  you  were  possessed,  in  some  good  measure,  of 
those  qualifications  which  the  nature  of  the  ordinance 
and  the  w^ord  of  God  prescribe?  And  when  engaged 
in  the  work  of  commemoration,  were  your  hearts 
affected  by  a  sense  of  its  importance  and  solemnity  ? 
Did  you  hold  communion  with  the  Father,  and  fellow- 
ship with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  ?  Were  you  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  lively  faith — of  pious  affection — of  brotherly 
love — of  holy  desires  and  resolutions  ?  And  was  it 
your  earnest  prayer,  and  your  earnest  endeavor,  that 
you  might  glorify  him  whom  you  were  remembering, 
and  that  the  homage  and  devotion  of  your  souls  might 
be  accepted,  and  that  you  might  give  yourselves  away 
to  God  in  a  covenant  never  to  be  broken,  and  never 
to  be  forgotten  ? 

I  do  not  ask  you,  my  friends,  if,  in  all  those  respects, 
you  have  done  nothing  amiss — if  you  can  say  that  your 
way  has  been  perfect — if  you  can  look  back,  with  un- 
alloyed complacency  and  satisfaction,  upon  every  part 
of  your  conduct  and  experience  as  communicants  ?  No, 
my  friends ;  the  best  of  us  must  be  conscious  that  im- 
perfection and  sin  have  tarnished  the  purity  of  our 
offering.  And  we  all  need  to  humble  ourselves  before 
the  holy  God  whom  we  have  been  serving,  and  to  apply 
for  the  pardoning  efficacy  and  the  sanctifying  influences 
of  the  blood  of  Christ.     And,  may  "  the  good  Lord 


104     EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

pardon  every  one  who  has  prepared  his  heart  to  seek 
God,  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers,  though  he  has  not 
been  cleansed  according  to  the  prej)aration  of  the  sanc- 
tuary." But  have  you  been  sincere  in  your  desires  to 
"  do  this  in  remembrance  of  Christ  ? '  Have  you  been 
really  anxious  to  "  keep  the  feast  with  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth  ?"  Have  you  set  yourselves 
to  act  from  suitable  motives,  and  in  a  becoming  man- 
ner ?  And  are  you  conscious  that,  with  regard  to  the 
particulars  I  have  mentioned,  you  were  qualified,  in 
some  good  measure,  to  partake  of  the  ordinance,  and 
that,  in  some  good  measure,  your  participation  of  it  has 
come  up  to  the  standard  of  Christian  feeling  and  of 
Christian  attainment?  Then,  be  grateful  to  God  who 
has  not  only  admitted  you  to  the  privilege  of  holy  com- 
munion, but  has  enabled  you  cheerfully  to  embrace, 
and  rightly  to  enjoy  it.  Be  grateful,  that  instead  of 
keeping  away,  like  many  others,  under  the  influence 
of  mistaken  views,  or  of  dislike  to  spiritual  exercises,  he 
has  put  it  into  your  hearts  to  give  this  public  testimony 
to  the  truth,  and  the  power,  and  the  excellence  of  the 
gospel.  Be  grateful  that  amidst  the  trials  and  the  sor- 
rows of  life,  you  have  been  allowed  to  draw,  from  a  be- 
lieving contemplation  of  the  memorials  of  your  Re- 
deemer's death,  that  support  and  consolation  which  it  is 
so  well  calculated  to  afford.  Be  grateful  that,  through 
the  grace  given  you,  you  have  been  strengthened  to 
discharge  an  important  duty,  and  encouraged  to  employ 
an  instituted  means  of  edification  ;  and  that  in  the  fidel- 
ity with  which  you  have  acted,  and  in  the  comfort 
which  you  have  experienced,  you  have  a  gratifying 
token  of  your  present  acceptance  with  God,  and  of  your 
future  progress  in  the  divine  life. 

But  do  not  rest  satisfied  with  mere  emotions,  or  w^ith 
the  mere  expressions  of  thanksgiving.  You  must  show 
your  gratitude  in  your  conduct ;  and  maintain  a  life  and 
conversation  suitable  to  the  profession  you  have  made, 
and  the  privileges  you  have  enjoyed.  It  is  not  ordinary 
decency    of    behavior   nor   ordinary    acquirements    in 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.     105 

religion  that  will  answer  the  purpose.  The  obligations 
laid  upon  you  by  your  appearance  at  the  Lord's  table, 
dictate  a  deportment  distinguished  by  its  purity,  and  its 
excellence.  And,  if  you  obey  them  in  any  tolerable 
degree,  we  shall  see  you  adorned  with  all  the  graces 
and  virtues  of  Christianity,  abounding  in  godliness  and 
good  works,  and  advancing  with  steady  and  progressive 
steps  in  the  path  of  righteousness.  After  having  seen 
such  a  lively  representation  of  the  evil  of  sin,  will  not 
sin  be  more  than  ever  the  object  of  your  aversion,  and 
will  not  you  more  than  ever  strive  to  keep  yourselves 
from  its  pollutions  ?  After  having  admired  the  greatness 
of  your  Saviour's  compassion  in  giving  his  life  a  ransom 
for  your  souls,  will  not  you  feel  yourselves  peculiarly 
and  powerfully  constrained  to  glorify  him  in  your  bodies 
and  in  your  spirits  which  are  his  ;  and  will  not  you 
think  every  act  of  obedience  which  you  can  render,  but 
an  inadequate  return  for  that  wondrous  love  which 
made  him  die  for  you  upon  the  cross  ?  After  perceiv- 
ing that  it  was-  one  great  purpose  of  those  sufferings  of 
his,  which  you  have  been  commemorating,  to  deliver 
you  from  iniquity,  and  to  call  you  to  holiness,  will  not 
you  cheerfully  surrender  yourselves  to  the  design  which 
they  had  in  view,  by  denying  all  ungodliness  and  worldly 
lusts,  and  by  living  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in 
the  world  ?  After  having  professed,  with  so  much  so- 
lemnity, that  you  are  his  disciples,  will  not  you  be  care- 
ful to  justify  this  profession,  by  devotedness  to  him  in 
every  department  of  his  gospel — by  steadily  adhering 
to  his  doctrine — by  confessing  him  openly  before  men 
— by  relying  without  disguise  on  the  merits  of  his  cross 
— by  a  conscientious  submission  to  his  will — and  by  a 
faithful  imitation  of  his  example  ?  And  after  having 
declared  that  you  are  expectants  of  heaven,  and  that 
you  look,  with  hope  and  joy,  for  the  second  coming  of 
your  Lord,  will  not  you  be  anxious  to  cultivate  the 
character  which  such  anticipations  demand,  by  rising 
superior  to  the  pleasures  and  allurements  of  this  present 
evil  world,  by  renouncing  all  the  pursuits  which  are  in- 


106     EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

consistent  with  your  eternal  prospects,  and  by  acquiring 
and  cherishing  these  holy  habits,  both  of  mind  and  con- 
duct, which  are  requisite  to  fit  you  for  the  bliss  of  im- 
mortality ?  O  my  friends,  you  can  never  be  too  scru- 
pulous in  abstaining  from  sinful  indulgence ;  you  can 
never  be  too  diligent  in  the  performance  of  duty ;  you 
can  never  be  too  much  devoted  to  that  work,  wdiich 
consists  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  God,  and  in  prepar- 
ation for  the  glories  of  his  presence.  Be  peisuaded, 
then,  to  give  yourselves  wholly  to  these  things.  Re- 
duce your  principles  uniformly  into  practice.  And  shew 
that  you  have  been  with  Jesus,  by  your  unreserved  con- 
formity to  his  will,  and  by  carrying  your  Christian  prin- 
ciples into  all  the  various  scenes,  and  circumstances, 
and  relations,  of  life.  This  is  necessary  for  your  own 
personal  welfare ;  and  it  is  also  necessary  for  promoting 
the  interests  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  among  your 
fellow-men.  Your  character  is  not  complete,  it  is  rad- 
ically defective,  unless  you  be  "  holy  in  all  manner  of 
conversation."  And,  if  you  are  seen  forgetting  your 
communion  vows,  and  violating  the  precepts  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  conforming  to  the  practices  and  the  maxims  of 
ungodly  men,  you  not  only  expose  yourselves  to  just 
derision  and  contempt,  but  you  bring  dishonor  on  the 
cross  of  Christ ;  you  prove  a  stumbling-block  to  the 
young  and  the  wavering  ;  you  mislead  many  by  your 
example,  whom  your  instructions  can  never  reach  ;  and 
you  tempt  "  them  that  are  without"  to  "  blaspheme  that 
holy  name  by  which  you  have  been  called."  And,  if 
your  conduct  be  thus  wanting  in  itself,  and  thus  per- 
nicious in  its  effects,  O  how  wmII  you  answ^er  for  it,  on 
the  great  day  of  the  Lord  !  Let  me  conjure  you,  then, 
to  "  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  you  are 
called."  Let  it  be  the  object  of  your  constant  ambition, 
and  let  it  be  the  subject  of  your  daily  prayer,  that  you 
may  be  kept  from  the  paths  of  iniquity,  that  you  may 
set  God  continually  before  you,  and  diat  you  may  "  stand 
perfect  and  complete  in  all  his  holy  will." 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.     107 

And  let  me  especially  press  this  exhortation  upon 
those  who  have  for  the  first  time  presented  themselves 
before  the  Lord  at  a  communion  table.  I  congratulate 
you,  my  young  friends,  on  your  taking  this  step,  so  im- 
portant to  yourselves,  and  so  interesting  to  all  who  love 
your  souls.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  thus  openly  en- 
listed under  the  banner  of  the  cross — that  you  have  re- 
nounced, in  this  public  manner,  the  devil,  the  world, 
and  the  flesh — that  you  have  been  seen  taking  up  the 
pilgrim's  staff,  and  setting  your  faces  Zion-ward.  And 
I  trust  that  you  have  done  all  this  in  the  sincerity  of 
your  hearts — that  you  are  not  acting  an  inconsiderate 
or  a  hypocritical  part — that  the  "  good  confession  which 
you  have  witnessed  before  many  w^itnesses"  has  come 
from  an  approving  mind — and  that  you  are  indeed  de- 
sirous and  determined  to  be  all  that  your  outward  ser- 
vice has  promised.  It  remains  for  you  to  vindicate 
your  own  sincerity,  and  to  maintain  your  own  consist- 
ency, by  the  tenor  of  your  future  deportment.  Never 
forget,  then,  the  engagements  which  you  have  so 
solemnly  contracted,  but  study  to  fulfil  them  with  the 
utmost  fidelity  and  care.  Be  not  "  of  them  who  draw 
back  unto  perdition,  but  of  them  that  believe  to  the 
saving  of  the  soul."  The  evil  propensities  of  your  own 
wayward  hearts — the  allurements  and  vanities  of  a 
thoughtless,  corrupted  world — the  sinful  insinuations  and 
wicked  example  of  unchristian  people — and  the  arts 
and  influence  of  your  spiritual  enemies,  who  operate 
upon  your  minds,  though  unseen — all  these  will  attempt 
to  draw  you  away  from  the  allegiance  you  have  sworn, 
and  from  the  resolutions  you  have  formed.  But  in  the 
strength  of  God  you  must  resist  them  all ;  and,  what- 
ever sacrifices  it  may  cost  you,  and  with  whatever  dif- 
ficulties it  may  be  attended,  you  must  keep  your  confi- 
dence in  Jesus  steadfast  unto  the  end — you  must  hold 
fast  your  integrity,  and  never  let  it  go — you  must  per- 
severe, with  unshaken  constancy,  in  the  path  of  duty 
and  obedience.  Recollect,  at  every  step  you  take  in 
life,  that  you  are  not  your  own — that  you  have  given 


108     EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNIOy. 

yourselves  up  to  God — and  that  you  are  bound  by  the 
strongest  and  most  endearing  ties,  to  "  glorify  him  in 
your  bodies  and  spirits,  which  are  his."  Read  his 
blessed  word,  that  you  may  grow  in  saving  knowledge. 
"  Remember  his  sabbaths  to  keep  them  holy."  Never 
"  forsake  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together"  in  his 
sacred  courts.  Pray  to  him  "  with  all  prayer  and  sup- 
plication in  the  spirit."  Avoid  the  company  of  such  as 
ti'ample  on  his  authority  and  despise  his  ordinances ; 
and  associate  with  those  who  fear  his  name  and  keep 
his  commandments.  When  the  allurements  of  the  world 
solicit  your  affections  or  your  conformity,  cast  a  believ- 
ing recollection  back  upon  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  an 
eye  of  hope  forward  to  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  scorn 
the  pleasures  which  would  frustrate  the  purposes  of  your 
Saviour's  death,  or  darken  your  anticipations  of  future 
glory.  And  when  any  peculiar  temptation  occurs,  or 
when  the  impetuosity  of  youthful  passion  begins  to  break 
forth,  or  when  the  ridicule  of  unbelieving  or  ungodly 
men  is  threatening  to  conquer  your  holy  purposes,  then 
lift  up  your  soul  to  the  God  of  all  grace,  and  cry  for  the 
help  of  his  almighty  arm  :  call  to  remembrance  the 
vow^s  and  resolutions,  the  faith  and  the  comforts,  of  a 
communion  table  ;  and  forget  not  that  death  is  fast  ap- 
proaching, and  may  come  when  you  are  not  aware,  to 
deliver  you  from  the  trials  which  now  distress  you,  and 
to  conduct  you  to  that  land  of  uprightness  and  of  rest, 
where  no  sin  is  committed  and  where  no  sorrow  is  felt, 
and  where  there  is  fulness  of  joy  and  pleasures  for 
evermore. 

Yes,  my  friends,  death  is  approaching  to  all  of  us. 
And  it  becomes  all  of  us  to  watch  and  to  be  ready. 
Before  another  communion  arrive,  some  of  us,  it  i^ 
probable,  shall  have  bidden  an  everlasting  adieu  to  this 
land  of  ordinances  and  of  probation.  Which  of  us  it  is 
to  whom  the  summons  shall  be  sent,  we  cannot  tell. 
It  may  be  the  youngest,  and  the  stoutest,  and  the  most 
thoughtless,  of  us  all.  O  then,  how  deeply  should  our 
minds  be  impressed  with  the  shortness  and  uncertainty 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.     109 

of  time  ;  and  with  what  diligence  should  we  apply  our- 
selves to  the  work  that  is  given  us  to  do !  Let  none  of 
us  be  idle  or  unconcerned.  Let  none  of  us  delay  or 
trifle  with  preparation  for  eternity.  Let  none  of  us  be 
so  foolish  as  to  put  our  immortal  interests  to  the  hazard 
of  an  unexpected  call.  Rather  let  us  be  active,  and 
faithful,  and  unremitting,  in  the  service  of  him  to  whom 
we  are  to  render  an  account.  And  when  we  leave  the 
house  and  table  of  the  Lord,  let  our  first  step  be  the  be- 
ginning of  a  more  holy  and  heavenly  course  than  that 
which  we  have  hitherto  pursued  ;  so  that,  living  always 
by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  abounding  always  in 
the  duties  of  our  Christian  vocation,  at  whatever  day  or 
at  whatever  hour  our  Master  call  us  away,  we  may  re- 
ceive from  him  this  gladdening  sentence,  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servants,  enter  ye  into  the  joy  of 
your  Lord." 


10 


SERMON    III.* 


THE    JOYFUL.    SOUND. 

PSALM  Ixxxix.  15. 

^^  Blessed  is  the  people  that  know  the  joyful  sound,^^ 

The  joyful  sound  here  mentioned  primarily  refers  to 
the  blowing  of  the  silver  trumpets,  on  certain  festivals, 
by  the  sons  of  Aaron — an  institution  which  God  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  of  reminding  the  Israelites  of 
their  being  under  the  continued  care  and  protection  of 
him,  who  had  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  Considering  the 
hardships,  and  dangers,  and  sufferings  they  had  to  en- 
counter in  the  wilderness,  this  ceremony  was  calculated 
to  give  them  consolation  and  encouragement  during 
their  pilgrimage  towards  the  promised  land.  And  even, 
after  they  were  fully  established  in  the  privileges  for 
which  they  were  destined  in  the  counsels  of  Heaven,  it 
had  the  effect  of  reviving  and  strengthening  the  impres- 
sion, that  they  were  safe  under  the  guardianship  of  that 
Being  who  had  originally  delivered  them,  by  whom  they 
had  been  hitherto  guided  and  defended,  and  whose 
promise  of  unfailing  regard  was  as  faithful,  as  his  mercy 
was  abundant,  and  his  power  omnipotent. 

*  Preachefl  iii  St.  Georg-e's  Church,  Edinburgh,  on   the  evening  of  Sab- 
bath, 16th  May,  1830,  for  the  Edinburgh  Continental  Society. 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  Ill 

The  Mosaic  economy  is  at  an  end  :  its  peculiar  cer- 
emonies are  abrogated  :  of  its  symbols  of  a  present  and 
superintending  Divinity,  not  one  is  left ;  and  the  sound 
of  the  silver  trumpets  is  heard  no  more.  But  as  an- 
cient Israel  is  commonly  accounted  and  held  out  in 
Scripture  as  typical  of  true  believers  under  the  new 
dispensation,  so  particular  appointments  in  the  former 
may,  without  any  violation  of  propriety,  and  with  man- 
ifest advantage  as  to  instruction  and  illustration,  be  con- 
sidered as  representing  those  features  in  the  latter  with 
which  they  are  found  to  correspond.  And,  when  we 
think  of  what  the  gospel  is,  and  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  finds  us,  and  of  the  benefits  which  we  derive 
from  it,  we  are  not  putting  a  forced  interpretation  upon 
our  text,  when  we  take  the  "joyful  sound"  to  mean  the 
message  of  the  gospel,  and  the  declaration  of  the 
Psalmist  to  refer  to  the  happiness  of  all  those  by  whom 
that  message  is  known,  according  to  its  own  import  and 
purpose,  and  according  to  the  will  and  intention  of  its 
gracious  Author. 

It  is  in  this  view  that  we  propose  to  make  the  de- 
claration contained  in  these  words,  "  Blessed  is  the 
people  that  know  the  joyful  sound,"  the  subject  of  our 
remarks  and  meditations. 

We  need  not  occupy  your  time  at  present  in  shewing 
that  blessedness  is  essentially  connected  with  the  gospel. 
The  gospel  is  intended  to  make  us  blessed,  because  He, 
in  whose  will  it  has  originated,  is  full  of  compassion,  and 
announces  that  here  his  compassion  has  had  its  richest 
and  most  determinate  exercise.  It  h  fitted  to  make  us 
blessed  ;  for  the  same  God,  whose  compassion  prompt- 
ed it,  has  also  contrived  all  its  arrangements  and  oper- 
ations, and  the  infinite  wisdom  which  belongs  to  him 
must  have  so  adapted  the  means  to  the  end,  as  effectu- 
ally to  secure  whatsoever  it  designs.  It  is  sure  to  make 
us  blessed  ;  its  machinery  being  moved,  and  its  effects 
being  produced,  by  the  power  to  which  all  opposition  is 
feeble,  and  before  which  all  difficulties  vanish  away.  And 
it  is  known  to  make  us  blessed  ;  for  we  have  only  to  ap- 


112  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

peal  to  the  experience  of  the  church  in  every  successive 
age  and  in  every  variety  of  its  features,  in  proof  of  the  fact, 
that  the  gospel  has  done  for  its  disciples  what  nothing 
else  has  heen  able  to  accomplish — has  put  a  joy  into 
their  hearts,  and  shed  a  brightness  over  their  prospects, 
beyond  all  that  worldly  minds  have  experienced  or  con- 
ceived. And,  with  respect  to  such  of  you  now  hearing 
me,  as  have  been  made  glad  by  deliverance  from  the 
evils  and  the  fears  of  sin,  and  by  restoration  to  divine 
favor  and  to  heavenly  hope,  were  I  to  ask  you,  to  what 
source  you  trace  all  this  happiness,  there  is  not  one  of 
you  who  would  not  instantaneously  lay  his  hand  upon 
the  gospel,  and  say,  "  It  is  this,  and  this  alone,  which 
has  made  me  what  I  am — which  has  converted  my 
troubles  into  peace,  and,  in  the  midst  of  all  my  calami- 
ties, has  taught  me  to  rejoice  with  a  joy  that  is  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory." 

But  let  us  consider  what  is  implied  in  "  knowing  the 
sound"  or  message  of  the  gospel,  as  connected  with  the 
blessedness  which  it  imparts.  The  discussion  may  be 
salutary  both  to  those  who  enjoy  that  blessedness,  and 
to  those  who  are  still  strangers  to  it.  And  may  the 
Spirit  of  all  grace  render  it  effectual  for  edification  and 
for  comfort ! 

1.  In  the  first  place,  to  know  the  joyful  sound  implies 
that  the  gospel  is  communicated  to  us. 

When  we  say  that  the  gospel  must  be  communicated 
to  those  whom  it  renders  blessed,  we  slate  a  proposi- 
tion which  stands  opposed  to  the  opinions  of  many. 
These  persons  do  not  pretend  to  think  the  gospel  use- 
less— but  still  they  do  not  think  the  knowledge  of  it 
absolutely  necessary.  This  knowledge  of  it  they  admit 
to  be  beneficial  in  several  respects — but  they  do  not 
admit  it  to  be  essential  to  salvation.  So  far  otherwise, 
that  they  deem  those  from  whom  it  has  been  withheld, 
as  safe  in  their  eternal  interests  as  those  are  to  whom  it 
has  been  conveyed. 

Such  doctrine  we  hold  to  be  altogether  erroneous. 
The  gospel  proposes  to  redeem  sinners  from  the  burden 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  113 

of  certain  evils,  and  to  restore  tbem  to  the  enjoyment 
of  certain  blessings.  And  it  is  represented  as  the  only 
method  by  which  it  has  pleased  God  that  these  ends 
should  be  accomplished.  At  least,  we  do  not  learn 
from  revelation,  nor  is  it  taught  any  where  else,  that 
there  is  another  method,  possessed  of  divine  authority, 
or  of  sufficient  virtue  for  working  out  the  same  great 
and  important  purposes.  It  follows,  accordingly,  that 
if  we  would  obtain  the  deliverance  and  the  happiness 
which  are  designed  for  us  by  the  gospel,  we  are  shut  up 
to  that  system,  and  must  not  assume  the  privilege  of 
looking  beyond  its  confines.  Every  thing  which  over- 
leaps its  bounds,  or  supersedes  its  provisions,  is  fancy, 
speculation,  presumption,  impiety.  Not  only  is  the 
gospel  able  to  save  us,  but,  according  to  the  divine  de- 
cree, the  gospel  alone  can  save  us. 

Now,  what  is  the  gospel  as  the  scheme  of  human  sal- 
vation ?  It  is  not  an  absolute  and  unconditional  arrange- 
ment for  taking  away  men's  guilt,  and  reinstating  them 
in  their  original  privileges,  without  any  relation  to  what 
they  are  or  to  what  they  do  upon  earth,  and  limited 
wholly  to  their  judicial  condition  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  to  their  ultimate  admission  into  heaven.  Were  that 
the  case,  a  written  communication  on  the  subject  would 
have  been  unnecessary  ;  or,  a  large  proportion  of  the 
written  communication  actually  given  might  have  been 
spared.  When  we  look  into  its  pages,  we  do  not  find 
it  stated,  or  insinuated,  or  even  allowed  to  be  inferred, 
that  the  gospel  is  nothing  to  us  or  to  our  fellow-men, 
except  in  so  far  as  it  contains  the  fact  that  divine  mercy 
has  interposed  in  behalf  of  our  apostate  race,  and 
effected  for  them  a  redemption  which  leaves  us  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  of  their  ultimate  felicity.  There  is  no 
countenance  given  in  any  one  part  of  its  record  to  such 
an  idea.  On  the  contrary,  it  every  where  proceeds  on 
the  supposition,  that  the  fact  must  be  announced  to 
those  whom  it  concerns,  in  order  that  it  may  become 
practically  available  for  their  well-being.  And  why  is 
this  annunciation  requisite  ?  Because  the  plan  of  saving 
*10 


114  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

mercy  which  it  unfolds,  clearly  embraces  the  character, 
as  well  as  the  condition,  of  the  sinner  :  it  implies — it 
establishes — it  intimates  a  connexion  between  the  two ; 
and  this  connexion  is  so  close,  and  of  such  a  nature,  that 
the  condition  of  the  sinner  cannot  become  what  his 
safety  requires  it  to  be,  unless  the  character  of  the  sin- 
ner is  made  to  undergo  a  corresponding  change.  And 
this  change  cannot  take  place  without  the  concurrence 
of  his  will,  and  that  movement  among  all  the  affections 
and  principles  of  his  moral  frame  which  pre-supposes 
him  to  be  acquainted  with  what  the  gospel  demands  of 
him,  as  well  as  with  what  the  gospel  has  effected  for  him. 
For  indeed,  it  is  "  the  word  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel," 
which,  according  to  the  divine  appointment,  is  to  be  the 
instrument  of  his  conversion  and  his  sanctification ;  and 
it  is  inconceivable  how  the  word  should  have  any  influ- 
ence either  on  his  understanding  or  on  his  heart,  unless 
it  be  first  submitted  to  his  attention,  and  brought  within 
the  sphere  of  his  observation.  It  is  the  divinely  insti- 
tuted means  of  renewing  and  purifying  the  sinner,  of 
giving  him  that  interest  in  the  merit  of  the  Saviour  as 
the  object  of  belief,  without  which  there  is  no  pardon 
for  him  here,  and  of  producing  in  him  that  spiritual 
renovation,  without  which  there  is  no  heaven  for  him 
hereafter.  And  to  say  that  without  the  use  of  those 
means,  these  ends  may  yet  be  attained,  is  to  say  that 
God  Vv^ill  set  aside  the  plan  which  he  has  not  only  de- 
vised, but  even  proclaimed  lo  those  for  whose  guidance 
it  is  intended,  and  by  a  miraculous  operation  more 
wonderful  than  any  which  he  has  ever  used,  will  con- 
tradict and  nullify  that  method  of  redemption  which  he 
employed  numberless  miracles  to  constitute,  to  reveal, 
and  to  attest  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 

On  this  single  and  obvious  ground,  then,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  those  to  whom  the  gospel  is  unknown,  to  be- 
come partakers  of  the  specific  salvation  which  the  gos- 
pel provides  and  promises.  This  salvation  can  become 
the  portion  of  such  only  as  have  the  faith  and  the  purity 
which  the  gospel  prescribes  ;  the   faith  wliich  unites  us 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  J  15 

to  Christ,  who  is  the  only  source  of  spiritual  blessings ; 
and  the  purity  which,  while  it  is  itself  one  of  these 
blessings,  is  essential  to  our  fruition  of  the  greatest  of 
them, — eternal  life.  And  as  no  man  can  exercise  a 
faith,  and  cuhivate  a  purity,  of  whose  object  and  obli- 
gations, and  extent  he  is  entirely  ignorant,  so  his  igno- 
rance of  the  gospel,  in  which  alone  these  things  are 
made  known,  must  clearly  debar  him  from  all  share  in 
the  benefits  of  that  salvation,  which  either  involves,  or  is 
exclusively  annexed  to,  the  faith,  and  the  purity  that  are 
enjoined. 

The  heavenly  Canaan  has  been  purchased  for  sinful 
men ;  but  they  cannot  reach  it  under  all  circumstances 
and  by  all  ways.  There  is  a  certain  path  which  leads 
to  it.  If  they  do  not  walk  in  that  path,  it  must  ever 
remain  to  them  a  strange  and  foreign  land.  And  how 
can  they  walk  in  that  path,  unless  they  receive  direc- 
tion from  him,  whose  province  it  is  at  once  to  assure 
them  of  its  reality,  and  to  guide  them  to  its  blessedness  ? 
And,  as  the  Israelites,  if  the  sound  of  the  silver  trum- 
pets had  rot  reached  their  ears,  could  not  possibly  have 
profited  by  that  ordinance — so  the  gospel  cannot  prove 
either  the  means  of  salvation,  or  a  source  of  joy,  to  any 
of  the  children  of  men  to  whom  its  message  is  not  sent, 
or  upon  whom  its  light  has  not  arisen.  Hence  it  is  that 
we  read  of  men  "  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledj^e," — 
a  fact  which  could  have  no  occurrence  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  and  no  place  in  the  book  of  God,  if  the 
notion  were  true  against  which  I  am  contending.  And 
hence,  when  the  apostle  Paul  says,  that  "whosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved," 
he  adds,  "  How  shall  they  call  upon  him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him 
of  whom  they  have  not  heard?" — an  addition  to  the 
apostle's  declaration  which  could  have  no  meaning,  if 
men  might  be  saved  who  had  never  heard,  and  there- 
fore never  believed.  And  hence  the  peremptory  com- 
mand of  our  Saviour  to  his  disciples,  to  "go  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature — christianizing  all  nations 


116  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

and  teaching  all  nations," — a  command  which  was  quite 
superfluous,  if  the  grand  object  of  Christ's  mission  could 
have  been  attained,  and  guilty  men  made  heirs  of  life 
and  immortality,  without  being  taught  his  religion,  and 
without  being  made  his  disciples.  And  hence  the  ardent 
and  devoted  zeal  with  which  those  whom  he  ordained  to 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel  executed  that  high  commission ; 
the  diligence  with  which  they  labored  to  bring  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles  to  an  acquaintance  with  the  truth  ; 
the  compassionate  earnestness  with  which  they  besought 
them  to  accept  the  message,  and  to  obey  it ;  the  sacri- 
fices which  they  cheerfully  made,  that  they  might  pro- 
mulgate those  glad  tidings  with  which  their  divine  Mas- 
ter had  entrusted  them, — a  course  of  conduct  which  on 
their  part  was  altogether  unaccountable  and  unneces- 
sary, unless  they  considered  the  eternal  well-being  of 
those  for  whom  they  felt  and  did  and  suffered  so  much, 
to  be  inseparably  connected  wdih  their  possession  of  the 
gospel  message. 

The  argument  admits  of  a  copious  illustration  ;  but 
we  need  not  pursue  it  any  farther  for  the  purpose  of 
being  convinced  that  we  cannot  be  blessed,  unless  we 
are  permitted  to  hear  the  sound  of  the  gospel. 

And  this  view  of  the  subject  is  far  from  being  unim- 
portant or  useless  ;  for  it  teaches  us  to  set  a  higher  value 
on  the  privilege  than  we  could  ever  imagine  to  belong 
to  it,  if  we  had  thought  that  the  gospel  could  have 
achieved  all  its  saving  work  upon  us,  though  we  had 
never  been  made  aware  of  its  existence  till  we  had  ex- 
perienced the  fruit  of  that  v/ork  in  heaven  ;  and,  of 
course,  to  cling  more  fondly  to  it,  to  feel  a  deeper 
interest  in  it,  and  to  chei-ish  more  suitable  and  influen- 
tial sentiments  respecting  it,  than  we  could  possibly 
have  done  on  any  other  supposition.  And,  then,  while 
it  is  thus  beneficial  to  ourselves,  it  leads  us,  at  the  same 
time,  to  take  a  livelier  and  more  sympathetic  concern 
in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  our  brethren — of  those  among 
ourselves  who,  though  dwelling  within  the  precincts  of 
Christendom,  have  scarcely  had  their  ears  saluted  with 


SER.   3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  117 

the  tidings  of  salvation — and  of  the  multitudes  in  hea- 
then lands,  whose  minds  are  as  blank  and  uninstructed, 
on  that  all-important  theme,  as  if  there  were  no  mercy 
in  the  heavens,  or  as  if  no  Redeemer  had  ever  come 
into  the  world.  It  leads  us  to  take  a  more  serious  and 
more  active  concern  in  those  outcast  fellow-creatures, 
who  are  living  in  the  midst  of  thick  darkness,  and  dying 
under  the  burden  of  unpardoned  guilt ;  and  to  put  forth 
all  our  energies,  and  to  improve  all  our  opportunities, 
that  there  may  be  conveyed  to  them  that  ''joyful 
sound,"  which  tells  them  of  the  doings  of  God's  pity 
towards  his  fallen  offspring,  and  of  the  blessedness  which 
he  has  provided  for  the  lowest,  and  most  desolate,  of 
them  who  will  return  to  him  by  the  way  of  his 
appointment. 

My  Chiistian  friends,  let  your  souls  rise  in  thanks- 
givings to  that  merciful  Father,  who  has  extended  to 
you  the  blessing  which,  in  his  unsearchable  providence, 
he  has  denied  to  myriads  beside.  Let  your  gratitude 
grow  warmer  still,  when  you  meditate  on  your  own  un- 
worihiness  of  such  a  high  distinction — such  an  invalua- 
ble token  of  God's  sovereign  bounty — and  muse  on  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  your  condition  and  of  your  pros- 
pects, if  it  had  not  been  graciously  vouchsafed  to  you. 
And  then,  looking  beyond  your  own  personal  interests, 
and  embracing  in  your  sympathies  the  wretched  victims 
of  ignorance  and  guilt,  that  people  so  large  a  portion  of 
our  globe,  let  your  prayers  ascend  in  their  behalf  to  the 
Father  of  mercies,  who  has  been  so  compassionate  to 
you  ;  and  ask  for  them  the  gift  of  that  revelation  of 
grace  in  which  you  have  been  enabled  to  rejoice  ;  and 
be  it  your  resolution  and  your  purpose  that  you  will  be 
more  zealous,  more  liberal,  more  devoted  than  ever,  in 
your  endeavors  to  rescue  sinners  everywhere  from  the 
miseries  of  their  apostacy,  and  to  impart  to  them  the 
means  and  the  elements  of  true  blessedness,  by  sending 
them  the  gospel,  and  causing  them  to  hear  its  "joyful 
sound." 


118  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  to  know  the  joyful  sound, 
implies  that  we  attend  to  the  gospel,  and  understand  it. 

If  those  are  wrong  who  think  that  men  may  be 
blessed  to  whom  the  gospel  is  not  made  known  at  all, 
those  also  are  wrong  who  think  that  the  mere  circum- 
stance of  this  privilege  being  possessed  by  them  is  alto- 
gether sufficient.  That  there  are  not  a  kw  who  de- 
ceive themselves  with  this  idea,  is  too  manifest  to  be 
doubted.  All  that  they  rest  upon  is  the  simple  fact, 
that  God  has  declared  himself  to  be  merciful  to  sin- 
ners, and  has  contrived  a  plan  by  which  he  may  con- 
sistently extend  his  mercy  to  them,  and  by  which  he 
has  pledged  and  bound  himself  to  do  so.  Being  sure 
of  this,  they  go  no  farther  in  their  inquiries;  they  have 
recourse  to  no  other  ground  of  satisfaction  and  security  ; 
they  giv^e  themselves  no  more  anxiety  about  the  mat- 
ter ;  and  go  on  to  live  as  if  they  were  now  quite  safe, 
and  must  at  last  be  quite  happy. 

Unquestionably,  however,  the  blessedness  which  they 
feel  or  anticipate,  is  not  the  blessedness  predicated  in 
the  text  of  those  who  "  know  the  joyful  sound  ;"  and  if 
that  sound  has  put  any  comfort  into  their  hearts,  their 
comfort  being  without  warrant  must  prove  vain  and  de- 
lusive. For,  it  cannot  be  thought  that  God  has  devised 
a  scheme,  and  carried  it  into  execution,  and  given  it  to 
the  world  in  a  written  form,  and  afforded  such  state- 
ments and  illustrations  of  it  as  we  find  in  the  inspired 
volume,  without  intending  that  those  for  whom  it  has 
been  constructed,  and  to  whom  it  has  been  transmitted, 
shall  be  careful  to  make  themselves  conversant  not  only 
with  its  general  design,  but  also  with  its  particular  im- 
port, and  with  its  various  departments,  and  its  various 
bearings  His  intention  is  clearly  evinced  by  these 
things,  even  though  there  had  been  no  express  call 
upon  us  to  take  heed  to  what  he  has  made  such  sacri- 
fices to  accomplish,  and  has  been  so  kind  and  conde- 
scending as  to  communicate.  To  be  content,  there- 
fore, with  the  bare  existence  of  the  gospel  scheme,  and 
to  pay  no  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  gospel  revela- 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  119 

tion,  is  an  act  of  contempt  or  ingratitude  toward  God — 
the  slightest  indications  of  whose  will  are  deserving  of 
profound  attention,  and  who,  in  the  exercise  both  of 
grace  and  authority,  has  made  a  full  disclosure  of  what 
he  has  compassionately  done  for  our  guilty  race.  And 
what  sort  of  blessedness  can  it  be  that  stands  connected 
with  conduct  so  unworthy,  and  that  is  derived,  as  it 
were,  from  the  very  dispensation  with  respect  to  which 
the  unworthy  conduct  is  exhibited  ?  Or  how  can  any 
one  rationally  expect  to  participate  in  that  peculiar 
blessedness,  in  this  world  or  in  the  next,  which  it  is  the 
very  object  of  the  gospel  to  confer,  when  he  thus  treats 
its  divine  record  with  indifference  and  disdain,  and  sets 
at  nought  the  evident  appointments  of  its  great  and  mer- 
ciful Author  ? 

And  moreover,  we  must  repeat  the  statement,  that 
the  blessedness  flowing  from  the  gospel  is  to  be  received 
and  enjoyed,  not  by  chance,  or  according  to  human 
fancy  and  caprice,  but  in  a  certain  instituted  way.  It 
is  not  bestowed  upon  all  indiscriminately,  whatever  be 
their  dispositions  their  principles  or  their  conduct,  and  in 
whatever  manner,  or  to  whatever  extent,  or  on  whatever 
terms  they  are  willing  to  accept  it.  We  cannot  sepa- 
rate it  from  that  spiritual  instrumentality,  of  which  it  is 
the  natural  or  the  destined  result.  Tlie  two  things  are 
indissolubly  united  ;  and  the  result  cannot  be  obtained 
unless  the  instrumentality  is  made  to  work  according  to 
the  will  of  him  who  formed  it.  There  is  a  plan  by 
which  this  blessedness  is  secured  for  the  sinner,  so  far 
as  to  be  brought  within  his  reach  ;  and  there  is  a  plan 
by  which  it  is  made  over  to  him  as  an  actual  and  per- 
sonal attainment.  And  as  it  could  have  had  no  reality, 
if  the  former  plan  had  not  been  executed  and  fulfilled, 
so  it  can  have  no  practical  application,  and  cannot  be- 
come a  matter  of  experience,  unless  the  latter  plan  be 
acquiesced  in,  and  adhered  to.  Besides,  if  this  plan  be 
not  studied  and  comprehended,  how  can  any  individual 
so  betake  himself  to  it,  and  so  make  use  of  its  provi- 
sions, and  so  submit  to  its   direction  and   influence,  as 


120  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

that  he  may  reasonably  expect  to  derive  the  benefits  by 
which  it  will  contribute  effectually  to  his  safety  and  his 
happiness  ?  In  this  case  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  do 
and  to  become  that  which  it,  as  an  economy  of  grace, 
requires  him  to  do  and  to  become  ;  and  therefore,  it  is 
equally  impossible  for  him  to  receive,  or  to  enjoy,  what 
it  promises  to  bestow  on  such  only  as  yield  themselves 
to  its  requisitions.  All  that  it  proposes  to  effect  in  his 
nature  and  character — all  that  it  prescribes  as  to  belief, 
and  regeneration,  and  prayer,  and  obedience,  necessarily 
remains  a  dead  letter,  for  he  neither  knows  nor  under- 
stands it :  and,  consequently,  it  is  no  less  idle  than  it  is 
presumptuous  in  him  to  lay  a  flattering  unction  to  his 
soul,  and  to  be  gladdened  by  the  gospel  sound.  The 
Israelites  would  neither  have  been  comforted  nor  ani- 
mated by  the  sound  of  the  silver  trumpets,  if  they  had 
not  been  previously  made  acquainted  with  its  precise 
meaning  and  intent;  and  if  they  had  not  also  consid- 
ered it  as  connected  with  that  system  of  divine  manage- 
ment and  guidance  under  which  the  Almighty  had 
placed  them.  No  more  can  any  one  rightly  appropri- 
ate to  himself  the  peace,  and  the  felicity,  which  the 
gospel  message  announces,  unless  he  perceive  the  drift 
of  that  message,  and  its  exact  bearing  on  what  he  is, 
and  on  what  he  is  to  do,  and  its  relation  to  his  substan- 
tial interests,  as  well  as  to  his  essential  character.  So 
long  as  he  is  not  aware  of  these  things,  the  message  of 
the  gospel  is  not,  warrantably,  a  joyful  sound  to  him  ; 
and  it  cannot  make  him  truly  blessed,  with  whatever 
frequency,  and  with  whatever  seriousness,  he  may 
hear  it. 

The  same  view  is  to  be  taken,  and  the  same  judg- 
ment formed,  of  those,  who,  though  they  study  the  gos- 
pel, study  it  on  wrong  principles — who  are  conversant 
with  the  scriptures  which  unfold  it,  but  have  embraced 
unsound  and  partial  notions  of  its  leading  truths — who 
can  declaim  eloquently,  and  reason  ingeniously,  on 
many  parts  of  it,  but  who  have  so  misapprehended,  and 
so  perverted  these,  as  to  render  them  inadequate  to  the 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  121 

purpose  which  the  author  of  salvation  intended  them  to 
subserve.  We  do  not,  by  any  means,  assert  tliat  every 
erroneous  conception  of  the  gospel  message  is  thus  fatal 
to  the  joy  of  him  who  entertains  it.  Many  mistakes 
may  be  committed,  without  affecting  our  interest  in  the 
salvation  which  it  proclaims,  or  our  share  in  the  bless- 
edness w4iich  it  imparts.  And  when  these  mistakes  are 
committed  in  spite  of  sincere,  and  strenuous,  and  prayer- 
ful efforts  to  acquire  a  spiritual  discernment  of  it,  we 
should  be  sorry  were  we  obliged  to  affix  to  them  any 
severe  or  rigorous  penalty.  But  while  none  of  them  is 
to  be  palliated  or  thought  lightly  of  in  any  circumstances, 
and  while  they  are  all  to  be  condemned — if  they  be  the 
consequences  of  wilful  opposition,  or  contemptuous  in- 
difference to  what  God  has  been  pleased  to  declare  for 
the  instruction  of  those  whom  he  addresses — there  are 
certain  errors  which,  being  attached  to  the  very  vitals  of 
Christianity  as  a  system  of  redemption,  cannot  be  main- 
tained and  acted  upon,  without  cutting  up  our  hope  and 
our  happiness  by  the  very  roots ;  and  which  force  on  us 
the  conviction  that  these  deadly  effects  must  only  be  the 
surer,  by  their  flowing  from  a  total  carelessness  about 
understanding  what  it  is  of  such  vast  importance  rightly 
and  thoroughly  to  comprehend.  Numerous  examples 
of  this  may  be  adduced. 

By  not  sufficiently  studying  the  gospel  message,  you 
may  have  been  brought  to  shrink  from  the  idea  of  Christ's 
divinity,  and  to  reduce  him  to  the  level  of  a  mere  crea- 
ture. But,  if  this  be  your  view  of  the  Saviour,  and  if 
you  act  upon  it,  you  cannot  be  blessed ;  for  not  only  do 
you  thus  allow  the  suggestions  of  proud  and  carnal  rea- 
son to  lord  it  over  the  lessons  and  the  dictates  of  revela- 
tion, but  you  give  your  homage  and  your  trust  to  one 
who,  while  he  is  a  redeemer  of  your  own  creation,  has 
no  power  to  sustain  the  burden  of  your  guilt,  or  to  lead 
you  a  single  step  onward  to  glory. 

Again,  by  not  sufficiently  studying  the  gospel,  you 
have  come,  perhaps,  to  the  conclusion  that,  to  he  justi- 
fied and  reconciled  to  God.  you  must  depend  upon  your 
]1 


122  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

own  righteousness.  Holding  this  doctrine,  then,  and 
acting  upon  it,  you  cannot  be  blessed ;  for  the  real  and 
saving  truth  is,  that  "  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  no  flesh 
living  can  be  justified," — that  the  blotting  out  of  sin  is 
exclusively  an  achievement  of  the  cross — and  that  peace 
with  God  is  attainable  only  through  faith  in  the  atone- 
ment and  obedience  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Again,  by  not  sufficiently  studying  the  gospel  message, 
you  have,  it  may  be,  formed  an  opinion  that  Christ  is 
not  only  your  righteousness,  but  your  sanctification,  in 
such  a  sense  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  a  personal 
conformity  to  the  divine  will.  And  holding  such  a  tenet, 
and  acting  upon  it,  you  cannot  be  blessed ;  for  the  au- 
thentic and  unchangeable  truth  is,  that  a  renewal  of  the 
moral  nature  is  indispensable — that  nothing  can  cancel 
our  obligations  to  serve  God  with  the  whole  heart — and 
that  "without  holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord." 

Once  more,  though  satisfied  that  both  Christ's  righte- 
ousness, and  your  own  personal  righteousness  are  ne- 
cessary, each  of  them  in  its  own  proper  place,  and  for 
its  own  proper  end,  yet,  by  not  sufficiently  studying  the 
gospel  message,  you  may  be  holding  the  sentiment  that 
to  aim  at  a  participation  in  the  one,  and  to  labor  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  other,  in  virtue  of  your  own  inde- 
pendent strength,  is  sufficient  for  ensuring  your  success 
in  both  objects.  And,  if  this  be  your  view,  and  if  you 
act  upon  it,  you  cannot  be  blessed  ;  for  it  is  a  fundamen- 
tal principle  of  the  gospel,  that  "  of  yourselves  you  can 
do  nothing" — that  "  faith  is  the  gift  of  God" — and  that 
it  is  the  agency  of  his  Spirit  which  creates  the  clean 
heart,  and  gives  its  issues  in  a  holy  life. 

It  is  clear  then,  that  to  know  the  sound  of  the  gospel, 
so  that  men  may  be  made  joyful  and  blessed  by  it,  they 
must  have  a  right  and  adequate  understanding  of  what  it 
is— of  what  it  presents  to  them — of  what  it  exacts  from 
them — and  of  what  it  promises  to  bestow  upon  them. 

To  you,  my  Christian  friends,  to  whom  the  gospel  is 
precious,  and  who  have  been  made  blessed  by  listening 
to  its  joyful  sound,  the  illustrations  now  given  may  be 


SER.    3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  123 

unnecessary,  but  they  are  unnecessary  to  you  only  be- 
cause your  experience  has  long  since  convinced  you  of 
their  conclusiveness,  and  their  truth.  You  can  bear 
your  testimony  to  this,  that  so  long  as  you  were  igno- 
rant of  the  gospel  scheme,  you  were  strangers  to  the 
comfort,  and  peace,  and  joy,  with  which  its  message  is 
fraught — that  these  never  entered  your  minds,  till  you 
saw  its  wise  and  compassionate  bearing  on  your  spirit- 
ual condition — and  that  they  have  been  relished  and 
augmented  in  proportion  as  you  have,  from  a  deeper, 
and  more  accurate,  and  more  lengthened  inquiry  into 
its  nature  and  properties,  seen  ground  for  admitting  its 
wonderful  adaptation  to  your  circumstances,  and  learned 
from  it  those  lessons,  by  which  it  is  so  perfectly  fitted  to 
regulate  both  your  faith  and  your  practice.  And  I  am 
confident  that — not  merely  out  of  reverence  for  its 
adorable  Author,  but  also  from  a  conviction  that  your 
blessedness  must  be  continued  and  enhanced,  by  pre- 
serving and  by  adding  to  the  knowledge  of  it  which  you 
have  already  acquired — it  will  be  your  business  to  seek 
after  a  still  clearer,  and  still  profounder  insight  into  its 
mysteries ;  and  to  find,  in  that  growing  acquaintance 
with  the  unspotted  and  inexhaustible  excellence  by 
which  it  is  pervaded,  more  abundant  reason  to  rejoice 
in  it,  as  the  covenant  of  your  peace,  as  the  gospel  of 
your  salvation,  as  the  charter  of  your  happiness. 

And  understanding  the  gospel  message  for  yourselves, 
you  will  be  anxious  to  convey  it  to  others  ;  and  to  con- 
vey it  to  them,  not  as  the  theme  of  a  vague  speculation, 
or  as  the  object  of  a  general  and  indiscriminating  belief, 
but  in  its  real  and  distinctive  characters,  and  as  con- 
taining those  instructive  and  life-giving  truths  which 
constitute  its  power  of  sending  forth  a  "joyful  sound," 
and  of  contributing  to  the  spiritual  blessedness  of  its 
votaries.  Far  from  being  contented  with  sending  to 
them  Christianity,  and  with  seeing  them  embrace  it,  in 
any  shape  whatever,  as  if  its  mere  name  were  sufficient 
to  charm  away  sin  and  secure  salvation,  you  will  be 
anxious  that  they  should  receive  it  in  all  its  doctrinal 


124  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

purity,  and  entertain  the  most  correct  conceptions  of 
every  thing  within  it,  and  concerning  it,  on  which  God 
has  been  pleased  to  disclose  his  will.  And,  especially, 
will  you  be  desirous  of  representing  it  to  them,  and  en- 
forcing it  upon  them,  as  a  system  suited  in  all  respects 
to  their  condition,  as  the  guilty  and  depraved  and  help- 
less subjects  of  God's  moral  government — a  system,  in 
which  they  may  behold  man's  moral  distemper  as  a 
sinner,  cared  for  and  remedied  by  a  Physician  of  un- 
erring skill  and  almighty  power — a  system,  wherein 
they  may  behold  the  justice  of  God,  which  their  tres- 
passes had  so  greatly  ofiended,  reconciled  with  the 
mercy  of  God,  which  their  misery  so  absolutely  needed 
— a  system,  in  which  they  may  behold  such  a  sacrifice 
oflered,  such  a  ransom  paid,  such  a  work  accomplished, 
as  make  it  consistent  with  all  the  attributes  of  Deity  to 
rescue  transgressors  from  death,  and  conduct  them  to 
glory — a  system,  in  which  they  may  behold  a  founda- 
tion for  all  the  hopes  that  they  need  to  build  upon  it, 
and  which,  the  longer  that  they  survey  its  dimensions, 
and  the  more  narrowly  that  they  examine  its  materials 
and  its  structure,  will  approve  itself  the  more  to  their 
judgment  and  their  taste,  as  entitled  to  their  highest  ad- 
miration and  their  most  unlimited  confidence. 

Alas !  how  many  are  there  among  us,  and  in  the 
world  around  us,  whom  the  sound  of  the  gospel  has 
reached,  and  by  whom  the  profession  of  the  gospel  is 
publicly  made  ;  but  who  are  either  indifferent  as  to  what 
creed  respecting  it  they  adopt,  or  strong  in  their  at- 
tachment to  doctrines  which  are  equally  contradictory 
to  its  announcements,  and  dangerous  to  man's  salvation  ! 
Let  these  persons  be  partakers  of  your  spiritual  sympa- 
thy and  commiseration.  Never  regard  their  errors 
with  apathy,  or  treat  them  with  unconcern.  Let  your 
pity  for  their  souls,  and  your  jealousy  for  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus,  lead  you  to  take  an  interest  in  their  case,  as 
one  of  serious  moment  to  themselves,  and  to  the  church, 
and  to  the  world.  Strive  by  your  testimony,  your 
counsel,  your  prayers,  your  employment  and  application 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  125 

of  all  competent  means,  to  enlighten  and  reclaim  them. 
And  think  not  that  your  duty  is  performed,  or  your  be- 
nevolence exhausted,  so  long  as  you  can  do  any  thing 
by  which  they  may  be  brought  to  a  more  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  gospel,  and  made  to  enter  more  intelli- 
gently, more  feelingly,  and  more  thoroughly  into  the 
spirit  of  the  declaration  which  says,  "  Blessed  is  the 
people  that  know  the  joyful  sound." 

3.  In  the  third  and  last  place,  to  know  the  joyful 
sound,  implies  that  we  welcome,  believe,  and  obey  the 
gospel. 

It  is  very  possible  to  hear  the  message  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  understand  its  meaning,  and  yet  to  be  destitute 
of  the  blessedness,  which  it  is  designed  by  its  Author, 
and  calculated  in  its  own  nature,  to  impart.  In  that 
case,  it  is  the  hearing  of  the  external  ear,  and  nothing 
else  ;  or  it  is  the  understanding  of  mere  intellect,  and 
nothing  else  :  and  if  sense  and  speculation,  and  nothing 
else,  be  concerned  in  the  regards  which  are  paid  to 
the  gospel,  or  in  the  effects  which  it  produces  on  those 
to  whom  it  is  addressed,  I  know  of  no  authority  in  its 
own  record,  and  of  no  warrant  in  the  reason  and  pro- 
priety of  the  thing  itself,  for  feeling,  or  for  cherish- 
ing, any  emotions  of  gladness.  On  the  contrary,  that 
privilege  is  directly  discouraged — it  is  expressly  denied 
— with  respect  to  those  who  merely  listen  to  what  the 
gospel  says  to  them,  or  merely  take  a  transient  and  dis- 
tant survey  of  its  plan,  or  merely  possess  the  faculty  of 
talking  and  arguing  and  conjecturing  about  the  doctrines 
and  statements  which  it  contains.  If  we  rest  satisfied 
with  such  naked  and  superficial  regards  as  these  ;  if  we 
go  no  deeper  into  the  subject;  if  we  come  into  no 
closer  contact  with  it ;  if  we  take  no  livelier  nor  more 
personal  interest  in  it ;  then  we  treat  the  gospel  as  of  no 
substantial  value;  we  disallow  its  most  obvious  and 
peremptory  claims ;  we  neglect  its  most  important 
character ;  we  act  towards  it  as  if  it  were  a  system  of 
mere  human  wisdom,  or  the  creation  of  mere  human 
fancy ;  and  thus  refusing  whatever  is  due  to  its  divine 
*11 


126  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3, 

excellence,  and  to  its  no  less  divine  authority,  we  fore- 
go, by  just  and  necessary  consequence,  whatever  it 
proffers  to  us  of  rest  and  happiness.  What !  my  friends, 
can  you  really  feel  the  blessedness  derived  from  the 
gospel,  when  yet  you  account  its  message  of  so  litde 
moment,  though  it  tells  you  of  a  great  salvation  wrought 
out  for  you  by  the  Son  of  God,  that  you  will  give  it  no 
welcome  into  your  hearts,  and  no  cherished  residence 
there  ?  Can  the  sound  of  the  gospel  be  verily  joyful  to 
you,  when  you  will  not  meet  its  announcements  with  an 
humble  and  cordial  belief,  although  these  are  the  an- 
nouncements of  eternal  truth — "  faithful  sayings,"  and 
therefore  "  worthy  of  all  acceptation  ?"  And  can  the 
gospel  fill  your  mind  with  gladness,  or  visit  you  with 
one  happy  emotion,  when  you  withhold,  at  once  so  un- 
dutifully,  and  so  ungratefully,  that  obedience  which  it 
not  only  positively  commands  and  affectionately  en- 
treats, but  also  most  explicitly  and  inseparably  conjoins 
with  all  the  good  which  it  promises  to  bestow?  To 
those  who,  in  this  manner,  put  the  gospel  away  from 
them,  or  who  use  it  as  a  mere  exercise  for  their  reason, 
or  as  the  mere  plaything  of  their  imagination,  it  can 
speak  no  joy  ;  upon  them  it  will  confer  no  blessedness. 
O  what  numbers  are  there,  by  whom  it  is  thus  dis- 
honorably treated,  or  practically  despised  ;  and  who  yet 
seem  to  flatter  themselves  that  all  is  well  with  their  souls, 
who  speak  of  their  state  before  God  with  ease  and  sat- 
isfaction, and  rejoice  confidently  in  the  anticipations  of 
a  better  world  !  Alas  !  how  blinded  are  they  by  the 
ignorance  that  is  in  them  to  the  realities  of  their  spirit- 
ual condition  !  Would  they  but  study  the  constitution, 
and  give  heed  to  the  language,  of  the  gospel ;  would 
they  but  attend  to  the  stress  which  it  lays  upon  the  con- 
nexion that  subsists  between  character  and  privilege, 
between  faith  and  peace,  between  holiness  and  happi- 
ness, between  immortality  and  meetness  for  it ;  would 
they  but  give  credit  to  what  it  declares  concerning  the 
demerit,  and  the  danger,  and  the  ultimate  fate  of  such 
as  they   are — how    would    all    their  joyfulness  vanish 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  127 

away  as  a  dream  of  the  night,  and  give  place  to  fear 
and  anguish  and  tribulation  !  And  how  would  that 
sound  which  has  played  about  their  ear  as  the  sound 
of  blessedness,  be  converted  into  the  voice  of  indigna- 
tion and  terror — uttered,  too,  by  the  God  of  all  grace,  but 
whose  grace,  as  manifested  and  embodied  in  the  gos- 
pel, has  been  lightly  esteemed,  or  sadly  abused,  and 
who  therefore  speaks  in  the  awful  accents  of  insulted 
justice  and  neglected  mercy  !  Let  sinners  who  are 
thus  at  ease  in  Sion,  who  are  assured  and  happy  in  the 
midst  of  peril,  who  are  rejoicing  in  a  salvation  which 
they  have  not  yet  appreciated,  and  which  is  not  yet  theirs, 
— let  them  consider  these  things,  and  no  longer  remain 
in  the  delusion  with  which  they  are  now  encompassed, 
and  which  must  finally  prove  their  ruin  and  their 
misery. 

Yes,  my  Christian  brethren,  these  men  are  indeed 
deluded ;  they  are  not  the  people  that  know  the  joyful 
sound,  and  are  blessed.  If  they  are  so,  then  the  gos- 
pel is  a  fable,  salvation  is  a  shadow,  and  truth  has  for- 
saken the  word  of  God.  Nay,  but  they  are  deluded — 
we  know  they  are  deluded — grossly,  grievously,  fatally 
deluded.  May  the  Lord  himself  deliver,  and  restore, 
and  save  them  ! 

And  be  you  humble,  and  be  you  thankful,  that, 
instead  of  having  your  lot  with  them,  you  are,  in  very 
deed,  of  those  that  are  blessed  by  having  "  known  the 
joyful  sound."  Be  humble,  when  you  recollect  and 
meditate  on  your  utter  unworthiness  of  such  a  distin- 
guished privilege.  And  be  thankful  to  Him,  by  whose 
undeserved  mercy  you  have  been  called  to  the  partici- 
pation and  enjoyment  of  it.  To  you  it  has  been  given 
to  "  know  the  joyful  sound" — to  give  a  cordial  recep- 
tion to  the  message  which  it  brings,  because  it  is  fraught 
with  innumerable  and  surpassing  benefits — to  exercise 
a  strong  and  lively  faith  in  it,  because  it  rests  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  true  and  faithful  God — and  to  render 
to  it  a  profound  and  practical  submission,  as  sanctioned 
by  an  authority  which  the  universe  obeys,  and  enforced 


128  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

by  the  manifestation  of  a  love  whose  height  and  depth 
and  breadth  and  length  exceed  all  our  powers  of  meas- 
urement. Thus  have  you  been  enabled  by  the  power 
and  teaching  of  the  Spirit  to  listen  to  the  sound  of  the 
gospel,  and  therefore  to  you  it  is  a  "joyful  sound,"  it  is 
not  only  calculated  and  intended  to  make  you  joyful, 
but  it  has  actually  made  you  joyful ;  as  your  conscious- 
ness and  experience  abundantly  testify.  And  therefore 
are  you  blessed — not  merely  visited  with  gleams  of 
passing  pleasure,  or  with  raptures  w^hich  have  their  mo- 
ment and  die  away,  but  inhabited  by  the  peace  w^iich 
nothing  can  disturb,  animated  by  the  joy  which  nothing 
can  take  away,  settled  on  the  hope  which  already  makes 
heaven  and  immortality  your  own. 

It  is  a  blessed  thing  for  a  man  to  have  all  his  sins 
forgiven,  and  thus  to  be  rescued  from  the  curse  of  a 
broken  law,  and  the  apprehension  of  future  wrath — and 
that  blessedness  is  yours.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  for  an 
apostate  alienated  creature  to  be  reconciled  to  the  great 
Creator,  and  in  the  spirit  of  adoption  to  look  up  to  him 
as  his  Father,  to  whose  favor  he  has  been  graciously 
restored,  and  from  whom  he  shall  be  estranged  no  more 
— and  that  blessedness  is  yours.  It  is  a  blessed  thing 
to  be  delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  unholy  passions,  and 
from  the  dominion  of  an  ungodly  world,  and  to  come 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  moral  nature  wherewith 
Christ  makes  his  people  free — and  that  blessedness  is 
yours.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  to  look  abroad  upon  the 
face  of  nature,  and  after  gazing  with  a  delighted  eye  on 
the  beauties  that  adorn  the  earth,  and  on  the  magnifi- 
cence that  cover  the  heavens,  to  rejoice  in  them  as  the 
works  of  him  who  has  called  you  back  to  the  work  and 
the  privileges  of  his  children,  and  to  say  with  the  glow  of 
filial  affection,  "  my  Father  made  them  all" — and  that 
blessedness  is  yours.  It  is  a  blessed  thing,  amidst  the 
trials,  and  difficulties,  and  distresses  with  which  human- 
ity has  to  struggle  in  this  weary  world,  to  be  upheld  by 
divine  power,  to  be  guided  by  infinite  wisdom,  to  be 
cheered  by  heavenly  consolations,  and  to  gather  right- 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  129 

eousness  and  joy  even  from  the  scene  of  tribulation  ia 
which  you  dwell — and  that  blessedness  is  yours.  It  is 
a  blessed  thing  to  be  able  to  contemplate  death  without 
being  subject  to  the  bondage  of  fear,  to  anticipate  the 
grave  as  a  resting-place  from  sin  and  sorrow,  to  lie 
down  in  its  peaceful  bosom  with  the  prospect  of  a  res- 
urrection to  life  and  immortality — and  that  blessedness 
is  yours.  It  is  a  blessed  thing  when  one  looks  forward 
to  the  judgment  and  to  eternity  which  await  us  all,  to 
realize  in  him  who  is  to  pronounce  our  doom,  the 
Saviour  to  whom  w^e  have  committed  the  keeping  of 
our  souls,  and  in  whose  blood  we  are  already  wasljed 
from  our  sins,  and  to  cherish  the  hope  founded  on  his 
own  faithful  promise,  that  the  portion  assigned  us  is 
everlasting  life — and  that  blessedness  is  yours.  And,  if 
in  this  state  of  darkness  and  imperfection,  where  our 
views  are  too  often  clouded,  and  our  faith  too  often 
grows  feeble,  and  the  heart  too  often  forgets  the  I'ock 
on  which  it  has  placed  its  confidence  for  eternity — if  in 
these  circumstances,  it  is  a  blessed  thing  to  have  access 
to  those  ordinances  which  have  been  appointed  for  re- 
freshing our  decayed  spirits,  for  casting  a  clearer  light 
upon  the  path  of  our  pilgrimage,  for  bringing  us  nearer 
to  the  fountain  of  grace  and  comfort,  and  for  reviving 
and  strengthening  "  the  things  that  are  ready  to  die" — 
that  blessedness  also  is  yours. 

Happy  people  !  thus  saved  by  the  Lord — to  whom 
the  joyful  sound  of  the  gospel  has  come,  fraught  with  a 
meaning  and  a  power,  and  a  consolation,  infinitely 
richer  and  more  efiicient  than  all  that  the  sound  of  the 
silver  trumpets  conveyed  to  the  children  of  Israel  as 
they  journeyed  through  the  wilderness — and  who  have 
not  only  in  this  agitated  and  sorrowful  world,  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding,  and  the  joy  that  is  unspeak- 
able, but  are  soon  to  enter  on  that  state  of  felicity,  of 
which  you  have  here  only  a  pledge  and  a  foretaste,  in 
which  purity  untainted,  and  bliss  unalloyed,  shall  cleave 
to  you  in  endless  fellowship,  and  in  which  the  fulness  of 
your  joy  shall  be  equalled  only  by  the  eternity  of  its 
duration. 


130  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

And,  surely,  my  Christian  friends,  you  cannot  but 
desire,  and  you  cannot  but  endeavor,  to  make  your  fel- 
low-men partakers  of  that  blessedness  with  which  you 
are  so  richly  favored,  by  making  them  experimentally 
acquainted  with  that  message  from  which  alone  such 
blessedness  can  proceed.  I  doubt  not  you  are,  more  or 
less,  engaged  in  advancing  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 
But  let  me  urge  it  upon  you  not  to  rest  satisfied  with 
those  efforts  which  seem  to  have  no  higher  object,  and 
can  have  no  other  effect,  than  that  of  gaining  nominal 
proselytes,  and  teaching  men  to  conclude  that  they  have 
a  right  to  the  salvation  of  the  gospel,  merely  because 
they  profess  Christianity,  and  are  acquainted  with  its 
letter,  and  conform  to  its  general  requisitions,  though, 
all  the  while,  they  are  destitute  of  its  quickening  spirit, 
and  rebellious  against  its  governing  authority.  You 
know,  that  from  your  own  personal  history,  that  this  is 
a  vital  and  ruinous  deception,  and  that  the  gospel  must 
be  received,  and  confided  in,  and  submitted  to,  in  a  far 
different  way,  before  men  can  be  truly  safe,  and  truly 
happy.  And,  therefore,  as  you  would  be  wise  and  con- 
sistent, as  well  as  compassionate,  in  your  exertions  to 
bring  them  into  that  blessed  state,  see  that  you  employ 
those  methods  w^hich  will  not  only  make  the  sound  of 
the  gospel  reach  their  ears  and  inform  their  understand- 
ings, but  penetrate  and  subdue  and  pervade  their  hearts, 
and  manifest  itself  there  as  a  message  of  love,  and  as  a 
message  from  God,  in  demonstration  of  the  spirit  and  of 
power.  Keep  this  continually  in  your  view  ;  pursue  it 
with  steady  and  unceasing  aim  ;  let  it  give  a  tone  and 
the  direction  to  all  that  you  may  do  for  evangelizing  the 
world.  And,  whether  you  propose  to  send  the  gospel 
where  it  is  altogether  unknown  ;  or  whether  you  pre- 
sent it  to  those  who  have  hitherto  rejected  the  offer  of 
it ;  or  whether  you  labor  for  its  prosperity  with  such  as 
are  satisfied  with  its  outward  forms,  and  its  legal  estab- 
lishment ;  or  whether  you  study  to  promote  its  interests 
among  individuals,  or  among  communities,  that  have 
perverted  its  principles,  and  allowed  its  vitality  to  evap- 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  131 

orate :  let  your  great  and  leading  purpose  be,  to  secure 
its  entrance  into  the  sinner's  inmost  soul,  to  win  for  it 
a  triumph  over  the  whole  man,  to  bring  all  upon  whom 
it  is  made  to  bear,  to  the  saving  belief,  and  willing  obe- 
dience, and  unspeakable  enjoyment,  of  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus  Christ. 

This,  my  friends,  is  characteristic  of  the  Institution  in 
whose  behalf  I  now  address  you.  Our  object  is  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  the  people  that  are  blessed,  because 
they  "  know  the  joyful  sound  of  the  gospel."  And  the 
scene  in  which  we  carry  on  our  work  of  faith,  and  labor 
of  love,  is,  as  you  may  learn  from  our  distinctive  appel- 
lation, the  Continent  of  Europe.  We  are  not  indiffer- 
ent to  the  ignorance,  and  the  error,  and  the  sinfulness, 
that  prevail  in  our  native  land  :  we  regard  these  evils 
with  sorrow  and  compassion — we  rejoice  in  the  exer- 
tions that  are  so  zealously  put  forth  to  mitigate  or  re- 
move them — and  we  should  deem  ourselves  wanting  in 
Christian  love,  did  we  not  individually  help  forward 
these  exertions  by  our  co-operation  and  our  aid. 
Neither  are  we  deaf  to  the  cry  for  help  that  comes  to 
us  from  every  quarter  of  the  heathen  world  :  the  asso- 
ciated efforts  that  are  everywhere  making  for  rendering 
the  name  of  Christ  honorable,  and  his  salvation  precious 
among  the  Gentiles,  fill  us  with  unfeigned  satisfaction ; 
and  far  be  it  from  any  of  us  to  refuse  to  that  cause  what 
our  opportunities  enable  us  to  do,  or  w^iat  our  circum- 
stances enable  us  to  bestow.  But  the  population,  to 
whose  spiritual  wants  we  are  united  and  pledged  to  min- 
ister, is  too  interesting,  and  too  necessitous,  to  be 
neglected,  amidst  the  multiplied  manifestations  of  Chris- 
tian and  British  philanthropy.  What  multitudes  are 
lying  prostrate  before  the  man  of  sin — the  slaves  of  a 
domineering  priesthood — shut  out,  upon  system,  from 
the  fountain  of  divine  truth — taught  to  build  their  confi- 
dence upon  a  foundation  which  cannot  stand  in  the 
judgment — and  involved  in  all  the  darkness,  and  fool- 
eries, and  impieties,  and  abominations  of  a  church,  which 
God  has  given  over  to  judicial  blindness,  and  consigned 


132  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  SER.  3. 

to  terrible  destruction.  And  even  of  those  who  have 
come  out  from  the  mystic  Babylon,  and  taken  a  protest 
against  her  doctrines  and  her  dominion,  what  a  vast 
proportion  have  forsaken  all  the  truth  and  glory  of  the 
Reformation — embraced  a  creed  from  which  every 
thing  is  banished  that  makes  the  gospel  dear  to  a  sin- 
ner's heart,  or  honorable  to  a  redeeming  God — or  sunk 
into  a  spiritual  lethargy,  in  which,  with  a  name  to  live, 
men  are  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death — or  avow  an  infi- 
delity, which  tramples  on  all  the  sacredness  of  the  Bible, 
and,  under  the  pretext  of  doing  homage  to  its  Author, 
gives  its  sublimest  and  most  precious  discoveries  to  the 
scorn  of  the  profane,  and  to  the  laugliter  of  the  fool  ! 
It  is  for  the  benefit  of  such  degenerates,  and  such  out- 
casts, and  such  enemies  of  Christianity  as  these,  that 
our  Society  has  been  formed,  and  that  we  crave  the 
public  support.  We  send  forth  missionaries,  fitted  by 
their  talents,  their  zeal,  and  their  character,  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God — to  lift  up  a  testimony 
for  the  deity  and  the  cross  of  Christ — to  recal  attention 
to  all  that  is  peculiar  to  the  gospel  of  salvation — to 
assert  the  authority  of  those  scriptures  which  have  been 
given  by  divine  inspiration — and  to  teach  the  victims 
of  spiritual  despotism,  and  the  votaries  of  a  false  philos- 
ophy, and  the  crowd  of  deluded  sinners  that  know  not 
what  they  do,  to  return  to  the  God  whom  they  have 
forsaken,  through  the  Saviour  whom  they  have  despised, 
and  to  hear,  and  believe,  and  obey  the  message  of  that 
gospel  which  alone  can  make  them  free.  And  though 
we  cannot  boast  of  any  flattering  measure  of  success, 
and  bring  before  you  an  array  of  converts  to  the 
truth,  and  speak  of  extensive  awakenings,  and  mighty 
inroads  on  the  territory  of  sin  and  Satan  ;  yet  you  will 
remember  that  we  labor  in  a  region  where  the  dark- 
ness may  be  felt,  and  cultivate  a  soil  that  is  hard  as  ad- 
amant, and  contend  with  foes  that  struggle  for  error  as 
they  struggle  for  life ;  and  that,  in  spite  of  all  these 
difficulties  and  disadvantages,  we  can  appeal  to  such  a 
progress  in  the  work  of  evangelization,  as  might  encour- 


SER.  3.  THE    JOYFUL    SOUND.  133 

age  hearts  less  sanguine  than  ours,  and  to  prospects  of 
increasing  good,  which  might  animate  the  most  apathetic 
and  desponding  of  tiiose  who  are  engaged  in  illuminat- 
ing a  benighted  world. 

My  Christian  friends,  we  solicit  your  countenance. 
Instead  of  regarding  our  enterprise  with  indifference,  as 
if  it  were  of  a  trifling  character,  or  frowning  upon  it  as 
if  it  were  injurious,  or  turning  away  from  it,  as  if  it  were 
hopeless,  we  beseech  you  to  recollect  that  it  concerns 
the  souls  of  immortal  beings — that  it  applies  to  them 
the  means  of  salvation  which  God  himself  has  sanc- 
tioned— and  that  we  have  reason  to  anticipate  fruit  that 
shall  be  for  the  divine  glory  and  for  the  happiness  of 
men.  Recollecting  these  things,  we  entreat  you  to 
permit  us  to  share  in  that  patronage,  which  you  so  lib- 
erally bestow  on  the  schemes  and  the  efforts  of  Chris- 
tian benevolence. 


12 


SERMON    IV. 


SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION. 


2  CORINTHIANS  v.  17. 

"  Therefore,  if  any  man  he  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  crea- 
ture :  old  things  are  passed  away  ;  behold  all  things 
are  become  new.^^ 

Paul  and  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  had,  at  one  pe- 
riod, been  influenced  by  secular  and  worldly  views. 
They  had  felt  a  peculiar  partiality  for  such  as  belonged 
to  the  privileged  community  of  the  Jews ;  and  had 
allowed  themselves  to  be  actuated  by  the  consideration 
of  the  advantage  or  disadvantage  likely  to  result  from 
retaining  or  losing  the  friendship  of  their  former  asso- 
ciates. They  had  besides  so  far  misunderstood  the 
character  and  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  as  to  suppose, 
that  he  came  to  act  the  part  of  a  temporal  prince  ;  and 
under  this  impression,  had  not  only  aspired  to  the  hon- 
ors and  benefits  which,  in  that  capacity,  he  was  expect- 
ed to  bestow,  but  had  had  their  attachment  to  him  and 
their  obedience  to  him,  more  or  less  governed  by  the 
motives  which  these  selfish  views  suggested.  Now, 
however,  they  were  completely  rescued  from  the  thral- 
dom of  such  debasing  errors.  Their  ideas  of  outward 
privilege,  and  of  true  religion,  and  of  the  mission  of  the 
Saviour,  were  divested  of  all  that  carnality  by  which 
they  had  been  formerly  corruntpd  anH  debased.     They 


SER.  4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  135 

regarded  him  whose  messengers  they  were,  as  a  spirit- 
ual Redeemer  and  a  spiritual  King  ;  they  looked  for  no 
blessings  from  him,  but  what  were  connected  with  the 
welfare  of  the  soul  and  with  eternity.  And  they  esti- 
mated others,  not  by  external  distinctions,  nor  by  their 
power  of  conferring  earthly  good,  but  by  the  conformity 
of  their  temper  and  deportment  to  the  divine  will,  and 
by  their  having  undergone  that  renovation  of  the  heart 
and  life,  which  is  the  true  glory,  and  the  true  happiness 
of  man.  "Wherefore,  henceforth  know  we  no  man 
after  the  flesh;  yea,  though  we  have  known  Christ 
after  the  flesh,  yet  now  henceforth  know  we  him  no 
more."  And  so  will  it  be,  not  merely  with  apostles, 
but  with  all  who  understand  the  nature,  and  feel  the 
power,  and  partake  of  the  salvation  of  the  gospel.  "  For 
if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature ;  old 
tilings  are  passed  away ;  behold,  all  things  are  become 
new." 

1.  In  the^r5^  place,  the  text  intimates,  that  a  great 
moral  change  in  the  sinner  is  necessary.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  the  state  in  which  man  is  every  where  found, 
and  in  which  the  Bible  uniformly  represents  him  to  be. 
He  is  in  a  state  not  merely  of  guilt  and  condemnation, 
which  requires  for  him  the  exercise  of  pardoning  mercy, 
that  he  may  not  be  forever  miserable ;  but  also  of  de- 
pravity and  corruption,  from  which  he  must  be  rescued, 
otherwise  he  can  never  attain  to  the  true  honor  of  his 
nature,  or  enjoy  communion  with  God  upon  earth,  or 
become  a  partaker  of  the  happiness  that  is  in  heaven. 
Nothing  is  more  obvious  to  every  intelligent  observer, 
and  nothing  is  more  plainly  taught  in  revelation,  than 
that  he  is  a  fallen  creature  ;  and  that  one  effect  of  his 
faU,  is  to  be  discovered  in  his  want  of  original  righteous- 
ness, his  disinclination  to  obey  the  divine  will,  and  his 
aptness  to  indulge  in  unholy  pursuits  and  unholy  pleas- 
ures. Even  when  placed  in  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances, with  every  motive  to  do  what  is  good,  and  every 
facility  for  avoiding  what  is  evil,  how  perversely  does 
he  choose  to  gratify  his  passions  and  appetites,  rather 


136  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  SER.  4. 

than  submit  them  to  the  control  of  God's  law  ;  how 
easily  and  willingly  does  he  become  a  prey  to  those 
temptations  by  which  he  is  assailed  ;  and  how  frequently 
does  he  prefer  vice  to  virtue,  in  spite  of  all  the  restrahits 
that  worldly,  as  well  as  higher  considerations,  impose 
upon  his  conduct  !  The  wicked  habits  he  forms  by 
such  a  course  of  transgression,  clearly  and  unquestion- 
ably demand  a  change ;  because  as  long  as  they  pre- 
vail over  him,  he  cannot  reach  either  the  glory  or  the 
felicity,  to  which  he  was  primarily  destined,  and  to 
which  it  is  the  great  object  of  Christianity  to  restore 
him.  But,  independently  of  these  habits,  which  have 
so  obtained  the  mastery  over  him  as  to  incapacitate  him 
for  pure  and  celestial  enjoyment,  and  which  must  there- 
fore be  eradicated  and  made  to  give  place  to  habits  of 
an  opposite  description,  the  very  dispositions  in  which 
they  originate,  the  inherent  propensities  which  have  pro- 
duced and  nourished  them,  are  such,  that  they  must 
undergo  an  alterative  process,  before  the  individual  who 
ow^ns  them  can  be  either  truly  holy,  or  truly  blessed ; 
or,  in  other  words,  be  invested  with  that  character 
which  he  lost  by  the  apostacy  of  the  first  Adam,  and 
which  he  is  to  regain  by  the  interposition  of  the  second. 
Nay,  though  we  should  see  in  him  none  of  those  deeds 
of  impiety,  or  licentiousness,  into  which  it  is  the  natural 
tendency  of  all  men  to  fall ;  and  though  we  should 
trace  none  of  that  decided  bias  to  sinful  gratification, 
which,  nevertheless,  lurks  in  every  human  breast ; 
though  we  should  witness  many  amiable  feelings  at 
work,  and  many  actions  that  are  equally  useful  and 
praiseworthy;  still,  it  will  not  be  difficult  in  all  this,  to 
perceive  the  absence  of  that  principle,  without  which 
the  stiictest  and  most  literal  performance  of  duty,  is 
nothing  better  than  ungodliness — the  principle,  I  mean, 
which  recognises  the  authority  of  God,  and,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  which,  there  can  be  nothing  good  or  accepta- 
ble in  his  sight.  And  here  too,  he  must  be  changed  so 
far  as  to  have  this  great  fundamental  principle  implanted 
and  established  in  him,  instead  of  that  mere  constitu- 


SER.  4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  137 

tional  amiableness,  or  that  mere  worldly  virtue,  which 
bears  the  semblance,  but  has  none  of  the  reality,  and 
none  of  the  truth  of  true  holiness;  and  which,  much  as 
it  may  be  esteemed  by  short  sighted  mortals,  has  no 
value  in  the  regard  of  Him,  whose  approbation  is  the 
only  standard  of  moral  excellence,  and  the  only  foun- 
tain of  spiritual  blessedness. 

In  these  respects,  and  for  these  reasons,  there  must 
be  a  great  moral  change  effected,  in  every  man  to 
whose  salvation  the  gospel  is  uhimately  available.  This 
we  cannot  doubt,  when  we  look  to  the  condition  from 
which  it  proposes  to  deliver  him,  as  contrasted  with 
that  to  which  it  proposes  to  bring  him — the  character 
which  it  ascribes  to  him  in  his  natural  state,  as  com- 
pared with  the  character  in  w^hich  it  clothes  him  after 
he  is  subjected  to  divine  influence.  The  scriptures 
speak  of  it,  indeed,  in  plain  and  emphatic  terms,  refer 
to  it  frequently  as  of  peculiar  moment,  and  proceed 
upon  it  as  an  essential  truth.  Nor  do  they  mention  it 
as  something  which  must  pass  upon  persons  of  a  partic-- 
ular  temperament  of  mind,  or  of  a  particular  description 
of  character,  and  from  which  all  others  may  consider 
themselves  as  exempted ;  but  as  that  which  is  indispen- 
sable for  every  individual  of  the  human  race,  as  that,  in 
short,  which  is  commensurate  with  the  extent  of  the  fall 
and  with  the  prevalence  of  sin.  But,  indeed,  that  the 
change  we  speak  of  is  more  or  less  necessary  for  every 
one,  is  generally  admitted  ;  the  error  which  prevails 
respecting  it,  has  reference  chiefly  to  its  nature  and  de- 
gree. It  is  allowed  that  every  one  must  be  changed  in 
some  respect  or  other.  This  one,  we  are  told,  must 
get  rid  of  a  certain  vicious  propensity  ;  and  that  one 
must  renounce  a  certain  vicious  practice.  And,  when 
the  reformation  specified  has  actually  taken  place,  the 
very  language  of  our  text  is  employed  to  describe  the 
change,  and  the  person  by  w^hom  it  has  been  experi- 
enced is  denominated  "  a  new  creature."  Now  all  this 
arises  from  having  very  inadequate  notions  of  man's 
state  by  nature,  of  that  which  he  is  required  to  become, 
*12 


/ 


138  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  SER.  4. 

and  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  as  to  the  important 
change  in  question.     And  therefore  we  remark, 

2.  In  the  second  place,  th?t  the  moral  change  which 
every  sinner  must  undergo,  is  comprehensive,  thorough, 
and  pervading. 

Those  imperfect  view^s  of  it,  to  which  I  have  advert- 
ed, are  so  contradictory  to  every  thing  that  we  are 
taught  in  the  Bible,  and  indeed,  so  much  at  variance 
with  what  we  may  gather  from  the  history  and  appear- 
ances of  human  nature,  as  it  is  everywhere  exhibited 
in  the  world,  in  relation  to  what  it  ought  to  be  both  as 
to  purity  and  enjoyment,  that  we  can  impute  them  to 
nothing  so  much  as  to  that  spiritual  blindness — that  obdu- 
racy of  heart — that  very  love  of  sin,  and  aversion  to 
goodness,  which  make  the  change  we  speak  of  so 
requisite,  and  which  may  be  regarded  as  an  additional 
proof  and  illustration  of  its  necessity.  Look  into  the 
inspired  volume,  and  see  the  account  which  it  gives  of 
man  as  a  fallen  being;  and  having  pondered  upon  that, 
judge  whether  the  change  can  be  either  partial  or  su- 
perficial, which  terminates  in  a  character  so  abhorrent 
of  what  is  base,  and  so  distinguished  by  "whatsoever  is 
true,  and  pure,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report,"  as  is 
the  character  of  the  real  Christian.  Nothing  can  be 
more  degenerate  than  the  one ;  nothing  more  perfect  in 
its  principles,  or  more  exalted  in  its  tendencies  and  as- 
pirations, than  the  other.  There  cannot  be  a  greater 
contrariety  between  two  things,  than  between  the  soul 
that  is  alienated  in  all  its  afiections  and  operations, 
from  him  who  is  "  glorious  in  holiness,"  and  the  soul 
whose  every  feeling,  and  faculty,  and  movement,  are  so 
consecrated  to  that  great  Being,  as  to  render  it  like 
unto  himself. 

Again,  consider  the  similitudes  by  which  the  scrip- 
tures express  not  n;!erely  the  reality,  but  the  greatness 
of  this  change.  It  is  represented  as  the  "  coming  out 
of  a  darkness"  so  gross,  that  the  sinner,  while  in  it,  can 
scarcely  discern  right  from  wrong,  and  cannot  walk  a 
step  in  the  path  of  acceptable  obedience — into  a  "  light" 


SER.  4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  139 

that  is  clear  and  "  marvellous,"  that  points  out  all  his 
way  to  heaven,  and  that,  "  shinelh  more  and  more  unto 
the  perfect  day."  It  is  represented  as  "  a  resurrection" 
from  the  dead  ;  from  a  state  in  which  all  the  sinner's 
powers  and  susceptibilities  are  dead  to  God,  buried  in 
the  grave  of  corruption,  and  incapable  of  one  holy 
effort,  or  of  a  single  becoming  emotion — to  a  state  in 
which  he  becomes  alive  to  all  that  is  great  and  good, 
rises  from  the  tomb  where  he  lay  amidst  rottenness  and 
impurity,  throws  off  the  fetters  which  enchained  his 
faculties,  is  animated  with  the  love  of  righteousness,  and 
walks  abroad  refreshed  by  the  breath  of  heaven,  and 
exulting  in  the  bliss  of  a  new-born  existence.  It  is 
represented  as  a  new  birth  ;  in  which  the  defects  and 
deformities  of  the  Christian's  former  self  are  not  al- 
lowed to  have  any  place ;  by  which  he  enters  into  a 
new  world,  and  begins  a  new  course  ;  and  from  which 
his  regenerated  nature,  though  commencing  with  the 
weakness  of  infancy,  will  grow  up  to  the  vigor  and 
stature  and  measure  of  a  perfect  man.  '  And  in  my 
text,  it  is  represented  as  a  fresh  creation — intimating 
thereby,  that  the  elements  of  the  Christian's  moral  na- 
ture are  modelled  and  organized  anew — that,  from 
every  department  of  his  being,  there  is  excluded  what- 
ever had  formerly  defaced  its  beauty,  or  deranged  its 
structure,  or  perverted  its  use — that  the  whole  man  is 
framed  agreeably  to  the  will  of  the  great  Creator,  con- 
secrated to  his  service,  and  honored  with  his  residence. 
All  these  representations  demonstrate  the  vaslness  and 
completeness  of  the  change  that  is  wrought  in  the  sin- 
ner, when  he  is  converted  to  God  ;  and  must  prevent 
every  considerate  person  fi-om  thinking  lightly  of  it,  as 
if  it  could  be  easily  made,  or  required  few  sacrifices,  or 
demanded  no  great  anxiety  about  its  accomplishment. 
They  show  such  a  total  revolution  of  character  to  be 
necessary,  as  proves  that  a  great  proportion  of  those 
who  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  undergone  it,  are 
really  cherishing  a  delusion,  which,  in  the  end,  must 
prove  as  ruinous  as  it  is  vain  -,  and  they  warn  us  all  to 


140  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  SER.  4. 

take  heed  to  ourselves,  and  not  to  be  satisfied,  as  we 
are  too  apt  to  be,  with  mere  appearances — with  partial ' 
symptoms — with  outward  and  compromising  amend- 
ments— with  any  thing,  in  short,  that  does  not  go  to  the 
very  root  of  the  matter,  and  give  evidence  that  whatso- 
ever constitutes  man  a  moral  and  accountable  being  has 
been  so  transformed  as  to  make  us  willingly  subject  to 
the  Father  of  our  spirits. 

In  his  Episde  to  the  Ephesians,  (iv.  22.)  the  Apostle 
Paul  gives  a  short,  but  comprehensive  description  of 
this  process,  from  which  you  may  learn  what  is  implied 
in  becoming  a  new  creature.  "  That  ye  put  off,  con- 
cerning the  former  conversation,  the  old  man,  which  is 
corrupt,  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts;  and  be  re- 
newed in  the  spirit  of  your  minds;  and  that  ye  put  on 
the  new  man,  which,  after  God,  is  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness."  In  these  words,  there  is  set 
before  you,  by  means  of  a  strong  figure,  the  transition 
you  are  to  make,  the  character  you  are  to  renounce, 
and  that  which  in  its  stead  you  are  to  embrace  and  cul- 
tivate. You  are  to  "  put  off  as  respects  your  former 
conversation,"  or  the  conduct  which  you  maintained 
when  you  were  heathen  or  unregenerate,  "  the  old 
man" — the  vicious  nature,  from  which  diat  conduct  pro- 
ceeded, and  which  is  so  essentially  and  wholly,  corrupt- 
ed as  to  be  full  of  the  inordinate  desires  that  deceive 
those  who  yield  to  them,  and  drown  them  in  perdition, 
by  leading  to  all  manner  of  sinful  indulgence — you 
must  put  off  this  depraved  nature,  as  you  would  throw 
away  a  garment  which  is  polluted,  torn,  disgraceful  and 
useless.  And  so  thorough  must  this  renunciation  of 
"  the  old  man"  be,  that  you  must  be  "  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  your  mind  ;"  you  must  not  be  reformed  mere- 
ly, but  "  renewed  ;"  you  must  be  renewed  not  merely 
in  external  manners,  "but  in  your  mind;"  and  you 
must  be  renewed  not  simply  in  the  general  disposition 
of  your  mind,  but  in  its  very  "  spirit" — in  that  which 
gives  the  tone  to  your  whole  temper,  and  goes  forth  with 
its  practical  influences  into  the  whole  tenor  of  your  de- 


SER.  3.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  141 

portment ;  and  which,  according  as  it  is  good  or  bad, 
will  render  you  an  object  either  of  sore  displeasure  or 
of  kind  regard  to  him  who  is  your  Ruler  and  your 
Judge  :  and  having  renounced  the  old  man — those  pur- 
suits and  pleasures  in  which  you  formerly  delighted  ; 
and  having  been  made  new  in  your  inmost  heait,  and 
in  all  the  spi'ings  of  action,  you  must  "  put  on  the  new 
man" — you  must  maintain  and  cultivate  that  character 
"which,  after  God" — in  obedience  to  his  will,  in  con- 
formity to  his  example,  in  furdierance  of  his  glory,  and 
in  the  exercise  of  his  grace,  "is  created"  or  formed,  so 
as  to  exhibit  the  various  excellencies  which  are  com- 
prised "in  righteousness  and  true  holiness" — the  holi- 
ness which  consists  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God, 
under  the  operation  of  those  principles  and  motives 
which  are  prescribed  in  the  word  of  God.  You  must 
"  put  on  this  new  man,"  as  you  would  put  on  a  garment 
which  will  cover  your  whole  person  ;  a  garment  so 
beautiful  as  to  please  the  eye  of  him  whom  it  is  your 
privilege  to  serve  upon  earth,  and  so  becoming  and  suf- 
ficient as  to  fit  you  for  sitting  down  at  that  divine  feast 
which  he  has  prepared  for  you  in  heaven. 

The  magnitude  of  the  change  implied  in  the  sinner 
becoming  "  a  new  creature"  may  also  be  inferred,  from 
the  nature  of  the  agency  by  which  it  is  effected.  The 
reformations  and  amendments  of  character  with  which 
so  many  are  ready  to  be  satisfied,  as  all  that  God  re- 
quires of  them,  need  no  extraordinary  means  to  bring 
them  about.  It  is  generally  enongh  for  that  purpose, 
merely  to  yield  to  the  power  of  a  worldly  or  selfish  mo- 
tive— to  give  up  one  secular  advantage  in  exchange  for 
another — to  check  a  propensity,  or  renounce  an  indul- 
gence, which  was  injuring  our  earthly  prospects  and 
encroaching  on  our  own  scheme  of  earthly  happiness — 
and  thus  to  be  all  the  while  retaining  the  objects  of  our 
original  attachments,  and  only  varying  the  mode  of  grat- 
ifying our  corrupt  desires.  The  intemperate  man  may 
become  sober,  only  to  economise  his  substance  and 
spare  his  health,  which  he  may  devote  to  indulgences 


142  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  SER.  4. 

not  one  whit  more  innocent  than  those  he  has  forsaken. 
The  dishonest  man  may  cease  from  fraud  and  robbery, 
merely  that  he  may  escape  punishment  from  men,  and 
be  free  to  engage  in  other  practices,  in  which  he  as  little 
acknowledges  the  divine  authority,  or  the  welfare  of  his 
fellow-creatures.  And  the  openly  profane  and  irre- 
ligious may  desist  from  taking  God's  name  in  vain,  and 
no  longer  neglect  God's  ordinances,  that,  by  this  means, 
he  may  acquire  a  reputation  for  piety,  and  commit,  un- 
der the  hypocrite's  guise,  what  he  found  it  unsafe  or 
inconvenient  to  commit  in  the  eye  of  the  world.  But 
in  all  these,  and  in  all  similar  cases,  there  is  not  even 
an  approximation  to  the  self-denial  and  the  unreserved 
devotedness  of  "  the  new  creature;"  the  ungodliness  of 
the  fallen  nature  remains  uncorrected  and  unsubdued ; 
it  runs  merely  in  other  channels  and  displays  itself  in 
other  forms;  and  the  "old  man"  is  as  powerful  and  as 
rampant  as  ever.  But  when  the  sinner  becomes  "  a 
new  creature,"  his  love  and  his  hatred  are  inverted  ; 
what  he  once  loved  he  now  hates,  and  what  he  once 
hated  he  now  loves.  His  decided  and  paramount  incli- 
nation is  to  serve,  to  obey,  and  to  glorify  God,  instead 
of  surrendering  himself  to  the  world  and  to  sin.  His 
"  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord  after  the  inward 
man,"  and  on  that  law  he  meditates  with  unfeigned  sat- 
isfaction— "  esteeming  all  its  commundments  concerning 
all  things  to  be  right."  There  is  implanted  in  him  such 
a  hatred  of  sin  that  he  loathes  it  in  all  its  aspects,  re- 
nounces all  the  habits  in  which  it  had  predominated,  and 
abstains  from  all  the  indulgences  to  which  it  had  allured 
him  ;  and  in  short  it  becomes  the  ruling  desire  of  his 
heart,  and  the  unceasing  pursuit  of  his  life,  that  he  may 
be  "  perfect  as  a  man  of  God,  and  thoroughly  furnished 
unto  all  good  works.*' 

And  the  change  which  all  this  implies,  is  such  as  to 
baffle  every  effort  of  his  own  independent  |X)wer:  be- 
fore it  commences,  he  has  no  wish  that  it  should  take 
place,  nor  when  it  begins  is  he  able  of  himself  to  carry 
it  on  :  if  left  to  himself,  he  would  remain  forever  "  in  the 


SER.  4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  143 

gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity."  It  is  the 
power  of  the  Almighty  which  is  employed  to  create  him 
again.  He,  who  at  first  "moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters"  to  reduce  the  dark  and  void,  and  formless  mass 
to  order  and  to  beauty,  puts  forth  his  energies  on  the 
chaos  of  the  sinner's  soul,  to  rescue  it  from  darkness, 
and  tumult,  and  misrule — to  make  it  the  habitation  of 
light  and  life — and  to  consecrate  it  as  a  fit  temple  for 
the  worship,  and  service,  and  enjoyment  of  that  God 
whose  presence  filleth  all  in  all.  Such  is  the  native  re- 
belhon  of  his  heart,  that  it  cannot  be  overcome  but  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Most  High.  Such  is  the  difficulty  of 
making  him  a  willing  and  obedient  subject  to  the  divine 
government,  that  it  must  be  surmounted  by  an  arm 
which  is  resistless.  Such  is  the  difference  between 
mere  partial  ameliorations  of  character,  and  the  grand 
spiritual  renovation  of  which  our  text  speaks,  that,  while 
the  former  may  take  place  in  a  thousand  cases  by  the 
exercise  of  natural  strength,  and  even  by  the  impulse  of 
unworthy  motives,  the  latter  cannot  be  accomplished, 
even  in  a  single  case,  without  the  application  of  omni- 
potence— without  the  contrivances  of  infinite  wisdom — 
without  the  influences  of  a  holiness  which  belongs  to  no 
created  being.  Surely,  then,  we  must  conclude,  that 
the  moral  change  which  a  man  undergoes  when  he  be- 
comes a  new  creature,  must  be  no  light  matter — no 
trivial  concern  ;  it  must  be  worthy  of  that  agency  which 
is  set  in  motion  to  produce,  and  to  mature  it ;  it  must 
be  of  vast  magnitude — of  incalculable  importance — of 
indispensable  necessity. 

3.  Now,  let  me  state,  in  the  third  and  last  place, 
that  "  being  a  new  creature,"  and  "  being  in  Christ," 
are  inseparably  connected. 

It  is  amazing  and  melancholy  how  sinners  deceive 
themselves  in  respect  to  this  point.  They  admit  the 
truth  of  the  proposition  now  stated ;  but  then,  they  so 
treat  and  they  so  apply  it,  as  to  acquire  a  notion  of  their 
own  safety  which  the  real  facts  of  their  condition  and  of 
their  character  will,  by  no  means,  warrant.     Some,  who 


144  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  SER.   4. 

have  altered  their  moral  conduct  for  the  better,  in  cer- 
tain points,  which  arrest  tlie  attention,  and  secure  the 
favorable  testimony  of  their  fellow-men,  infer  from  this, 
that  they  are  "  in  Christ,"  and  are  consequently  entitled 
to  count  on  their  eternal  salvation  as  secure.  Others, 
again,  think  that  they  are  "  in  Christ,"  because  they 
have  assumed  his  name,  and  professed  his  gospel,  and 
are  ready  to  defend  the  truth  of  his  religion  ;  and  then 
conclude  that  they  have  certainly  experienced  the  re- 
newal which  is  necessary,  and  are  therefore  quite  fit  for 
heaven,  and  sure  of  reaching  it.  And  some,  who  be- 
long to  the  visible  church  of  Christ,  and  can  also  point 
to  the  abandonment  of  what  was  immoral  in  their  former 
practice,  take  advantage  of  both  circumstances,  and  feel 
that  they  have  a  double  tide  to  congratulate  themselves 
on  the  safety  of  their  present  state,  and  on  the  happi- 
ness of  their  future  prospects. 

All  who  think  and  reason  thus  are  laboring  under  a 
grievous  delusion.  Doubtless,  whosoever  is  in  Christ 
is  a  new  creature,  and  whosoever  is  a  new  creature  is 
in  Christ.  But,  before  you  can  rest  upon  such  infer- 
ences as  sound  and  legititnate,  you  must  ascertain  the 
reality  of  the  facts  from  which  you  draw  them  :  this  you 
should  be  careful  to  do,  by  comparing  your  opinion 
of  yourselves  with  what  the  Scriptures  teach;  and  you 
should,  on  no  account  come  to  a  favorable  conclusion 
merely  because  it  is  pleasing  and  satisfactory,  but  only 
when  you  are  authorized  to  do  so  by  the  truth  of  the 
case,  as  determined  by  the  unerring  word  of  God. 

You  know  what  that  word  says  respecting  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  moral  change  implied  in  your  being 
new  creatures.  Bring  your  character,  then,  to  the  test. 
See  whether  it  corresponds  with  the  character  which 
inspiration  delineates  as  comprised  in,  or  as  derived 
from  a  renewal  of  the  mind — whether  it  is  so  deep  as 
to  comprehend  your  spirit  and  your  principles — whether 
it  is  so  unreserved  as  to  leave  no  department  under  the 
dominion  of  sin — whether  it  is  so  universal  as  that  ''all 
old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  become 


SER.    4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  145 

new" — whether  "  old  things"  are  deserted  because  you 
are  conscious  of  a  rooted  dislike  to  them,  on  account  of 
their  inherent  turpitude,  their  contrariety  to  God's  will, 
their  tendency  to  dishonor  and  to  destroy  your  souls — and 
whether  "  all  things  are  become  new," — the  principles 
on  which  you  act — the  motives  by  which  you  are  in- 
fluenced— the  ends  and  objects  you  pursue — the  rules 
by  which  you  are  governed — the  pursuits  in  which  you 
find  your  comfort — the  companions  with  whom  you 
associate — the  hopes  by  which  you  are  animated.  In- 
quire Into  the  subject  thus  strictly,  and  thus  thoroughly, 
and  you  will  be  able  with  little  difficulty  to  discover, 
how  far  you  are  warranted  to  believe  that  you  have 
an  interest  in  Christ,  and  are  partakers  of  his  great 
salvation. 

But  never  forget,  In  the  midst  of  all  your  Investiga- 
tions, that  there  can  be  no  new  creation  unless  you  be 
*'  in  Christ" — unless  you  truly  believe  in  him — unless 
you  are  united  to  him,  by  virtue  of  that  faith  which  re- 
ceives him,  and  relies  upon  him,  and  submits  to  him  as 
your  Saviour.  All  spiritual  blessings  come  from  him. 
It  is  out  of  that  sufficiency  and  fulness  which  it  hath 
pleased  the  Father  should  dwell  In  him,  that  you  are 
to  derive  whatever  is  needful  to  make  you  safe,  or  holy, 
or  happy.  And  it  is  distinctly  taught  In  the  gospel  record, 
that  one  purpose  for  which  he  gave  himself  to  suffer- 
ing and  to  death,  was  your  deliverance  from  the  slavery 
of  sin — ^your  renewal  after  the  divine  image — ^your  res- 
toration to  that  personal  holiness,  without  which  all 
other  gifts  are  without  meaning,  and  without  avail. 
Now,  this  effect  Is  to  be  produced  by  that  alliance  to 
him  which  faith  constitutes  and  maintains,  which  make's 
you  part  of  his  mystical  body,  and  which  operates  by 
drawing  from  him,  as  your  spiritual  head,  that  life  of 
which  you  are  naturally  destitute,  and  the  nourishment 
by  which  it  is  to  be  supported,  and  strengthened,  and 
matured.  Do  not  therefore  Imagine  that  you  either  are, 
or  can  be,  new  creatures,  unless  you  are  "  in  Christ,'* 
13 


''^.^, 


146  SPIRITUAL   RENOVATION.  SER.   4. 

as  we  have  now  described.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
being  "  in  Christ"  by  external  profession,  and  external 
privilege.  You  may  be  thus  ''  in  Christ,"  as  unfruitful 
and  unhealthy  branches  are  sometimes  found  in  the  vine. 
But  you  must  be  "  in  Christ"  in  another  way, — even 
by  becoming  one  with  him,  through  the  vital  power  of 
faith — -just  as  the  branches,  which,  being  grafted  into 
the  true  vine,  not  only  send  forth  leaves,  and  exhibit 
blossoms,  but  produce  good  fruit  in  abundance.  Out 
of  Christ  altogether,  or  "  in  Christ"  only  in  name  and 
appearance,  you  can  have  no  life  in  your  souls,  and  can 
do  nothing  that  is  good.  It  is  only  when  you  are  "in 
Christ,"  according  to  the  spiritual  meaning  of  that 
phrase,  that  your  heart  can  be  renovated,  that  the  old 
man  can  be  exchanged  for  the  new,  that  there  can  be 
a  willing,  an  unreserved,  a  devoted  consecration  of  your 
powers  and  affections  to  the  service  of  him  by  whom 
you  have  been  redeemed,  and  that,  instead  of  being 
withered  and  barren,  and  fit  to  be  cut  down,  and 
burned,  you  can  flourish  and  grow  up  in  the  garden  of 
the  Lord,  and  bring  forth  plentifully  those  "  fruits  of 
righteousness,  which  are  by  Christ  Jesus  to  the  glory 
and  the  praise  of  God." 

Let  sinners,  then,  who  would  turn  from  the  evil  of 
their  ways  and  live,  be  impressed  with  this  great  truth, 
that  there  is  no  redemption  for  them,  which  does  not 
embrace  the  renewal  of  their  minds  and  characters; 
and  that  this  is  no  more  to  be  obtained  than  pardon  and 
reconciliation,  except  through  the  cross  and  the  Spirit 
of  Christ.  It  is  by  Jesus  that  they  must  be  turned 
from  their  iniquities.  They  must  be  "  created  again 
in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  And  therefore, 
let  them  flee  to  Christ,  and  embrace  him,  and  cleave 
to  him,  by  a  living  faith.  And  let  believers,  while  they 
give  thanks  to  the  Redeemer  by  whom  they  have  been 
made  new  creatures,  remember,  that  it  is  by  the  same 
Redeemer  that  they  are  to  be  maintained  in  the  regen- 
erated state  into  which  he  has  brought  them,  and  that 


SER.  4.  SPIRITUAL    RENOVATION.  147 

their  sanctification  is  to  be  carried  on  till  they  are  ripe 
for  immortality.  Let  them,  therefore,  be  exhorted  to 
live  continually  by  faith  in  Christ ;  to  have  recourse  to 
him,  at  all  times,  as  the  fountain  of  moral  purity ;  and 
to  apply  with  "  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the 
Spirit,"  for  those  communications  of  his  grace,  which 
shall  strengthen  what  is  weak,  and  perfect  what  is 
lacking  in  them,  till  they  enter  where  "nothing  that 
defileth"  shall  ever  enter,  and  become  "partakers  of 
the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light." 


SERMON    V. 


THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIEKCE. 


2  CORINTHIANS  i.  12. 

"  For  our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  con- 
science, that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not 
with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  have 
had  our  conversation  in  the  world,  and  more  abun- 
dantly to  you-ward.^^ 

Were  I  to  put  the  question  to  any  one,  What  is  it  that 
you  rejoice  in  as  the  ground  of  your  hope  and  confi- 
dence towards  God  ?  and  were  he  to  answer,  The  tes- 
timony of  a  good  conscience, — I  should  not  merely 
stand  in  doubt  of  that  person,  but  maintain  that  he  was 
building  on  an  unscriptural  and  insufficient  foundation, 
and  that  the  whole  superstructure  he  had  erected  upon 
it  would  be  destroyed  in  the  great  day  of  the  Lord. 
All  that  you  have  done,  my  friends,  and  all  that  it  is 
possible  for  you  to  do,  will  never  amount  to  a  justifying 
righteousness  ;  for  "by  the  deeds  of  the  law,"  you  are 
assured,  "  that  no  flesh  living  can  be  justified."  The 
only  ground  of  hope  and  confidence  towards  God,  that 
you  are  warranted,  or  that  it  is  safe  for  you,  to  rest 
upon,  is  the  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer,  which  is 
not  only  perfect,  in  its  nature  and  extent,  but  divinely 
appointed,  and  divinely  held  forth,  as  alone  adequate 
to  that  important  purpose.    Whatever  be  the  attainments 


SER.  5.        THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.  149 

you  have  made,  and  whatever  the  progress  you  may 
be  competent  to  make,  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  God, 
it  would  be  madness  to  rejoice  in  these,  as  if  they  had 
virtue  to  secure  for  you  forgiveness  and  eternal  life. 
And  more  especially,  would  it  be  madness,  as  you 
would  be  thereby  neglecting  a  method  of  salvation  as 
sure  and  efficacious  as  the  word  of  omnipotence  can 
make  it.  No :  my  brethren  ;  it  is  your  safety,  it  is 
your  duty,  and  it  is  your  privilege,  to  "  rejoice  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  have  no  confidence  in  the 
flesh." 

But,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  it  an  unlawful  thing  in 
any  circumstances,  or  in  any  view,  to  rejoice  in  the 
"  testimony  of  a  good  conscience  ?"  We  cannot  say 
so,  when  we  look  to  the  language  of  the  text,  and  con- 
sider it  as  the  language  of  an  inspired  apostle.  Even 
though  there  had  been  no  such  express  declaration  on 
the  subject,  and  though  apostolic  experience  and  ex- 
ample had  been  wanting,  such  rejoicing  would  have 
been  justifiable  on  the  obvious  analogy,  and  essential 
doctrine,  of  Scripture.  For  "  a  good  conscience,"  or 
"  a  conscience  void  of  offence,"  is  that  which  divine 
authority  requires  of  us,  and  is  a  possession  well-pleas- 
ing in  the  divine  regard.  And  to  know,  or  feel,  that 
we  have  it,  must  be  a  source  of  satisfaction  and  happi- 
ness. It  supposes  us  to  be  adorned  with  much  that  is 
amiable,  much  that  is  respectable,  much  that  assimilates 
us  to  God  ;  and  therefore,  to  derive  no  gratification 
from  the  fact,  would  amount  to  an  insensibility  to  moral 
excellence,  and  would  violate  a  settled  and  important 
principle  in  our  moral  nature.  A  good  conscience 
moreover,  can  never  speak  the  same  language,  nor  ex- 
cite the  same  emotions,  as  a  bad  conscience  :  to  derive 
happiness,  therefore,  from  the  approving  testimony  of 
the  former,  seems  as  unavoidable  as  to  experience 
misery  from  the  condemning  sentence  of  the  latter. 
But  the  words  of  the  aposde,  as  descriptive  of  his  own 
state  of  mind,  supersede  the  necessity  of  all  argument 
on  the  subject.  For  were  the  thing  wrong,  unsuitable 
*13 


150      THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CONSCIENCE.    SER.  5. 

to  the  true  Christian,  or  inconsistent  with  sound  doc- 
trine, he  and  his  brethren  never  could  have  indulged  in 
it,  as  they  are  here  represented  to  have  done ;  nor 
would  they  have  recorded  it,  for  the  edification  and  en- 
couragement of  others,  as  that  which  constituted  any 
portion  of  their  happiness.  No  person  could  be  more 
humble  than  Paul,  under  a  sense  of  natural  depravity 
and  actual  guilt.  No  person  could  more  distinctly  and 
forcibly  teach  the  doctrine  of  man's  utter  destitution  of 
every  thing  on  which  reliance  could  be  placed  for  taking 
away  sin,  and  securing  the  divine  favor.  No  person  could 
hold  forth  Christ  more  singly  and  exclusively  as  the  Sa- 
viour, in  whom  alone  transgressors  of  mankind  can  find 
pardon,  and  peace,  and  blessedness.  And  no  person 
could  more  fondly,  more  devotedly,  more  confidently, 
or  more  rapturously  cling  to  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
as  all  his  salvation  and  all  his  desire.  And  yet  he  and 
his  fellow-laborers,  who  were  like-minded  with  himself 
on  that  all-important  subject,  declare,  without  any  ap- 
prehension of  being  misunderstood,  or  of  being  account- 
ed heterodox,  "  Our  rejoicing  is  this,  even  the  testimony 
of  our  conscience,  that  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity, 
not  with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God,  we 
have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world,  and  more 
abundantly  to  you-ward." 

The  two  causes  of  rejoicing,  therefore,  must  be  per- 
fectly harmonious  ;  and  both  may  operate  without  any 
interference  of  the  one  with  the  other,  and  without  de- 
tracting either  from  the  character,  or  from  the  safety,  of 
the  individual  who  is  affected  by  them. 

This  text  may  be  considered,  jirst^  as  applied  to 
Paul.  He  had  labored  much  in  behalf  of  the  Corin- 
thian church,  with  a  view  to  instruct  and  confirm  it  in 
the  faith  of  the  gospel.  And  his  labor  had  not  been  in 
vain  ;  for,  through  his  instrumentality,  and  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  it  exhibited  many  examples  of  unwavering 
belief,  of  sincere  piety,  of  practical  godliness,  of  invin- 
cible patience,  of  Christian  consolation  and  joyfulness. 
But  si  ill  there  were  not  wanting  some  who  requited  all 


SER.  5.         THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.  151 

that  he  did  for  its  prosperity,  with  groundless  prejudices, 
uncharitable  suspicions,  and  ungenerous  reproaches. 
He  was  spoken  of,  as  if  he  had  been  actuated  by  mer- 
cenary or  ambitious  motives,  and  as  if,  under  the  guise 
of  pious  zeal,  and  spiritual  benevolence,  he  had  been  all 
the  while  pursuing  his  own  purposes  of  selfishness  and 
aggrandizement.  No  species  of  treatment  could  be 
more  offensive  and  galling  than  this.  It  wounded  the 
best  sensibilities  of  his  heart.  It  tended  to  injure  his 
reputation,  and  diminish  his  success.  And  had  it  not 
been  counteracted  by  a  consciousness  of  its  injustice,  as 
well  as  by  superior  influence,  it  must  have  gone  far,  not 
only  to  augment  his  present  distress,  but  also  to  dis- 
courage his  future  efforts.  And  what  was  it  that  sup- 
ported and  consoled  him  amidst  the  cruel  surmises  and 
bitter  calumnies  to  which  he  was  exposed,  even  from 
the  men  to  whom  he  had  been  administering  the  bene- 
fits of  Christianity  ?  It  was  the  feeling  and  impression 
of  his  innocence.  No  doubt  he  was  visited  with  the 
solacing  and  upholding  communications  of  the  divine 
Spirit;  but  these  would  not  have  been  vouchsafed,  if 
he  had  been  really  chargeable  with  tbe  base  and  worldly 
views  that  were  imputed  to  him.  And  then  to  all  the 
evils  resulting  from  what  he  suffered,  in  consequence  of 
the  things  that  were  alleged  against  the  purity  of  his  in- 
tentions, there  would  have  been  added  remorse  and 
self-condemnation,  for  being  in  his  own  knowledge  and 
conviction,  the  worldling,  or  the  hypocrite,  which  his 
enemies  reported  him  to  be.  But,  instead  of  having 
such  an  intolerable  aggravation  of  his  outward  trials,  he 
had  at  once  the  negative  consolation  that  he  was  falsely 
accused,  and  the  positive  and  substantial  consolation, 
which  flowed  from  the  witness  of  his  own  mind,  that,  in 
the  sight  of  God,  he  possessed  that  uprightness  of  de- 
sign, and  that  integrity  of  conduct,  for  which  he  did  not 
obtain  credit  with  men.  And  the  consolation  thus 
aftbrded  him,  not  merely  soothed  and  sustained  him 
when  suffering  from  the  ingratitude,  the  evil  imagin- 
ings, and  slanderous  sayings  of  those  who  should  have 


152  THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.         SER.  5. 

known  him  better  and  loved  him  more  ;  it  elevated  him 
above  the  obloquy  wherewith  he  was  assailed — made 
him  lightly  esteem,  or  altogether  forget,  the  afflictions 
that  beset  him — and,  amidst  evils  that  would  otherwise 
have  depressed  him  with  sorrow,  not  only  enabled  him 
to  rise  superior  to  their  influence,  but  filled  his  soul 
with  g,ladness.  He  rejoiced  in  this,  that  he  had  the 
favorable  "  testimony  of  his  own  conscience,"  to  set 
against  the  censures  and  accusations  of  ignorant,  mis- 
judging, or  malicious  men.  His  conscience  testified, 
that,  in  every  period,  and  in  every  department  of  his 
labors,  he  had  acted  with  "  simplicity" — with  a  single 
desire  to  glorify  his  Redeemer,  and  benefit  the  souls  of 
men  ; — that  he  was  not  dissembling,  with  a  view  to  im- 
pose upon  his  fellow-creatures,  but  had  that  "  sincerity" 
which  was  produced  and  nourished  by  a  sense  of  God's 
holy  presence,  and  which  constrained  him  to  avoid 
every  false  and  wicked  way,  and  to  speak,  and  to  live, 
with  the  unfeigned  purpose  of  doing  what  was  right ; — 
that  he  was  not  governed  by  the  "  wisdom"  which  is 
concerned  in  providing  for  the  "flesh,"  which  seeks 
for  carnal  qualifications,  which  aims  at  worldly  posses- 
sions, which  has  some  sinister  end  to  answer,  even 
when  professing  to  be  devoted  solely  to  spiritual  pursuits, 
and  to  be  wrapt  in  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  ob- 
jects,— but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  influenced  and 
regulated  by  "  divine  grace,"  on  which  he  humbly  de- 
pended, for  which  he  habitually  prayed,  and  to  which 
he  cheerfully  submitted,  as  that  which  alone  could  purify 
him  from  the  corruption  of  his  own  heart,  fortify  him 
against  the  assaults  of  temptation,  raise  him  above  all 
those  little  considerations  of  fame,  and  power,  and  van- 
ity, and  ease,  by  which  even  good  men  are  too  apt  to 
be  swayed,  and  render  his  "  conversation  honest  in  the 
sight  of  all  men,"  by  rendering  it  conformable  through- 
out to  the  will  of  that  God  who  requires  "  truth  in  the 
inward  parts,"  as  well  as  consistency  and  impartiality  of 
obedience  in  the  external  conduct.  And,  while  the 
apostle  rejoiced  in  the  testimony  of  his  conscience,  that 


SER.  5.         THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.  153 

this  had  been  his  manner  of  life  in  general,  while  per- 
forming his  official  duties  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  he 
rejoiced,  in  a  particular  manner,  that  this  had  been  his 
manner  of  life,  especially  towards  the  members  of  the 
Corinthian  church.  He  had  examined  his  heart,  and 
his  ways,  during  his  intercourse  with  them — the  doc- 
trine he  had  preached — the  temper  he  had  displayed — 
the  conduct  he  had  maintained  ;  and  though,  doubtless, 
he  who  confessed  himself  to  be  "  less  than  the  least  of 
all  saints,"  could  not  fail  to  be  sensible  of  imperfections, 
and  short-comings,  and  sins,  yet  of  this  he  was  con- 
scious, that  he  had  not  sought  "  theirs,  but  them" — that 
his  heart  had  been  animated  by  the  single  desire  of  do- 
ing them  good — that,  throughout  his  whole  proceedings 
as  their  spiritual  instructor,  he  had  been  guided  by  dis- 
interested views — that,  in  every  part  of  his  behax^ior  to- 
wards them,  he  had  abundantly  manifested  a  self-deny- 
ing spirit — and  that  he  could  meet  every  suspicion,  and 
every  asseveration,  of  an  opposite  description,  with  an 
appeal  to  Him  who  saw  into  his  heart,  and  who  knew 
that  he  "  lied  not,"  when  he  declared  his  innocence  of 
those  unworthy  sentiments  which  they  so  ungratefully 
and  illiberally  laid  to  his  charge.  And,  being  con- 
scious of  all  this,  "  he  rejoiced" — he  bore  their  calum- 
nies with  a  patient  and  undisturbed  mind  ;  and  he  was 
moreover  glad,  because,  trusting  in  the  merit  of  his  Re- 
deemer for  acceptance,  he  could  also,  from  "  the  testi- 
mony of  his  conscience,"  look  up  to  God,  through 
Christ,  for  his  approbation,  and  forward  to  heaven  for  a 
reward  of  those  services  to  the  Corinthian  church, 
w^hich  divine  grace  had  enabled  him  to  render,  and  in 
regard  to  which  his  motives  were  suspected,  and  his 
character  traduced. 

And  it  is  well  for  ministers  of  the  truth,  I  now  ob- 
serve, secondly^  to  bear  these  facts  in  remembrance. 

While  we,  my  friends,  are  exerting  ourselves  for  the 
welfare  of  our  fellow-men — whether  it  be  for  their  spir- 
itual instruction,  or  for  their  temporal  comfort, — it  is 
not  unlikely  that  we  may  experience  the  same  unthank- 


154      THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CONSCIENCE.    SER.  5. 

fulness  on  the  part  of  those  whose  interests  we  are  pro- 
moting, which  the  apostle  experienced — that  we  may 
have  our  views  and  feelings  misrepresented — that  our 
most  benevolent  and  useful  actions  may  be  ascribed  to 
vanity,  ostentation,  thirst  for  applause,  or  some  other  spe- 
cies of  self-seeking — and  that  such  may  be  the  treat- 
ment given  us  by  the  very  persons  to  whose  advantage 
we  have  been  most  Hberal  and  unwearied  in  con- 
tributing. All  this  I  need  not  say,  must  be  extremely 
galling  and  disheartening — not  only  painful  to  our  feel- 
ings, but  apt  to  make  us  grow  weary  in  well-doing. 
And,  that  we  may  be  comforted  under  this  trial,  it  is 
essential  that,  like  the  apostle,  we  have  "the  testimony 
of  a  good  conscience."  If  the  insincerity,  or  worldly- 
mindedness,  or  impure  motives,  in  which  it  has  been 
whispered  or  declared  that  our  conduct  has  originated, 
have  indeed  had  a  place  in  our  minds,  then  every 
spring  of  consolation  is  dried  up;  and  to  what  we  suffer 
from  the  reproaches  of  those  whom  we  have  been  be- 
friending, there  is  added  the  bitter  reflection,  that  in 
truth,  we  deserve  all  that  we  suffer.  To  guard  against 
this,  nothing  will  avail  us,  but  that  in  every  thing  we  be 
conscious  of  acting  with  "  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity  ; 
not  with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God." 
And,  conscious  of  this,  though  we  cannot  be  wholly  in- 
sensible to  the  base  and  wicked  returns  made  to  us  by 
the  objects  of  our  bounty,  we  need  not  and  we  shall 
not,  be  immoderately  cast  down.  We  have  been  doing 
good  "  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men,"  and  there- 
fore we  cannot  lose  our  reward.  We  have  "the  wit- 
ness in  ourselves,"  that,  whatever  failings  and  faults  may 
cleave  to  us,  in  this  case  we  have  been  walking  up- 
rightly before  God,  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  approves;  and  that  is  an  infinite  recompense  for  all 
the  censures  that  may  be  heaped  upon  us  by  uncandid 
observers  or  malicious  and  ungrateful  slanderers.  He 
will  give  us  support  and  encouragement  in  our  labors  of 
love,  from  which  neither  ingratitude,  nor  obloquy,  should 
ever  induce  us  to  desist.     It  may  even  please  him  to 


SER.  5.    THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CONSCIENCE.       155 

vindicate  our  character,  and  "  bring  out  our  righteous- 
ness as  the  noon  day,"  At  all  events,  we  have  Him  for 
our  friend,  while  we  have  but  men  for  our  foes ;  and 
assuredly  he  will  in  the  end,  he  will  for  ever,  put  an  end 
to  the  detractions  which  have  accompanied  our  doings 
upon  earth,  by  pronouncing  upon  us  the  sentence,  and 
exalting  us  to  the  place,  of  "good  and  faithful  servants" 
in  heaven.  And  in  the  "  testimony  of  our  conscience," 
teUing  us  such  truths,  connected  with  such  views,  and 
pointing  to  such  an  issue,  we  cannot  fail,  to  w^iatever 
extent  we  may  be  visited  with  the  evils  which  afflicted 
the  aposde,  like  him,  to  have  joy  and  rejoicing. 

But  though  the  text  must  be  thus  applied  in  a  pecu- 
liar sense  to  Paul  and  to  all  who  are  similarly  circum- 
stanced, we  now  observe,  thirdly^  that  it  may  also  be 
applied  to  the  general  character  and  experience  of  every 
Christian.  The  fact  holds,  not  merely  as  to  the  trial 
here  especially  referred  to,  but  to  the  whole  range  of 
Christian  duty.  When  our  conscience  testifies,  that,  in 
any  thing  whatever,  we  have  done  well,  in  that  we  are 
permitted,  and  entitled,  and  called  upon  to  rejoice. 
This  is  not  only  agreeable  to  the  laws  which  gov- 
ern our  moral  nature,  and  by  which  a  connexion  is 
established  between  conscious  rectitude  and  conscious 
satisfaction,  but  it  is  in  strict  accordance  with  experi- 
mental Christianity :  it  arises  from  the  relation  in  which 
our  good  works  stand  to  our  spiritual  safety;  and  it  is 
recognised  in  the  statements  and  examples  of  holy  writ. 
We  must  never  indeed  forget,  even  for  a  moment,  the 
principle  with  which  we  introduced  this  discourse,  that 
in  regard  to  our  title  to  eternal  life,  we  have  no  ground 
of  rejoicing  but  the  righteousness  and  sacrifice  of  Jesus 
Christ,  received  and  relied  upon  in  the  exercise  of  hum- 
ble, implicit,  undivided  faith.  But  in  conjunction  with 
this  principle,  we  ought  also  to  remember,  that  whatever 
constitutes  a  part  of  salvation,  or  tends  to  satisfy  us  that 
salvation  is  ours,  must  proportionally  and  necessarily  give 
us  joy.  Now  personal  holiness  is  one  of  the  benefits 
which  Christ  has  secured  for  his  people :  we  cannot 


166      THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CONSCIENCE.    SER.  6. 

therefore  have  that  holiness  without  rejoicing  in  it. 
Great  and  delightful  is  the  privilege  of  being  guided  and 
influenced  by  divine  grace;  can  we  then  be  conscious 
of  walking  in  the  ways  of  righteousness,  without  rejoic- 
ing in  that  which  is  a  practical  proof  that  the  grace  of 
God  has  been  given  to  us,  and  not  given  in  vain?  The 
Bible  tells  us  that  we  are  "justified  by  faith,"  and  that 
"  faith  without  works  is  dead ;"  if  the  works,  then, 
which  demonstrate  the  reality  of  our  faith,  and  conse- 
quently of  our  justification,  abound  in  our  practice,  can 
we  refuse  to  rejoice  in  them,  and  in  the  conclusion  to 
which  they  point?  Finally,  as  holiness  enters  essen- 
tially into  our  meetness  for  heaven — the  great  and  ulti- 
mate object  of  our  hopes  and  expectations — we  cannot 
fail  to  rejoice  in  every  testimony  to  our  holiness,  when 
with  that  testimony  is  connected  the  conviction  that  we 
are  in  possession  of  the  first  fruits  of  that  eternal  life 
which  God  has  promised  to  bestow,  on  all  who  seek  it 
by  "  a  patient  continuance  in  well-doing." 

Now,  my  friends,  you  see  in  the  whole  of  this  state- 
ment, nothing  that  should  impress  you  in  any  measure 
or  respect,  with  the  idea  of  your  having  anything  meri- 
torious whereof  to  boast,  or  that  should  have  the  least 
effect  in  drawing  away  your  trust  and  your  affections 
from  Christ.  On  the  contrary,  whatever  is  morally 
good  in  you,  is  represented  as  derived,  not  from  your 
independent  energies,  but  from  divine  aid,  and  from  that 
alone ;  and  all  tlie  rejoicing  in  it  which  you  are  w^ar- 
ranted  to  feel,  is  to  be  traced  exclusively  to  the  finished 
work  of  "  the  Lord  your  righteousness,  and  your 
strength."  Considering  the  virtues  which  you  practice 
as  a  part  of  salvation,  or  as  an  effect  of  grace,  or  as  an 
evidence  of  faith,  or  as  a  qualification  for  heaven,  still,  in 
every  case,  they  are  traced  to  the  operation  and  merits 
of  the  great  Mediator.  Viewed  in  these  lights,  and  in 
these  relations — the  only  lights  and  relations  in  which 
they  ought  to  be  viewed — they  leave  you  "  unprofitable 
servants,"  miserable  sinners,  and  by  affording  you  satis- 
faction merely  as  pointing  to  Christ,  as  centering  in  him, 


SER.   5.         THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.  157 

as  deriving  all  their  value  from  him,  as  nothing  what- 
ever, excepting  in  so  far  as  they  may  be  traced  to  him, 
they  direct  your  regards  to  him  as  the  foundation  of  all 
your  hope,  as  the  bestower  of  all  your  peace,  as  the 
source  of  all  your  joy.  And  to  this  conclusion  we  must 
come,  not  in  spite  of,  but  in  conformity  to,  all  that  has 
been  said,  respecting  the  consolation  and  the  gladness 
that  spring  from  "  the  testitnony  of  a  good  conscience," 
that  "you  must  rejoice  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh." 

But,  that  you  may  have  the  rejoicing  which  the  apos- 
tle experienced,  that  it  may  be  a  rejoicing  on  sufficient 
grounds  and  a  rejoicing  which  no  man  can  take  from 
you,  you  must  attend  to  these  (ew  particulars : 

First,  While  your  rejoicing  arises  from  the  testi- 
mony of  your  conscience,  you  must  be  careful  that  your 
conscience  be  well  informed.  We  know  that  the  apos- 
tle's conscience  was  of  this  description  ;  for  he  had  been 
taught  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Gliost,  and  taught 
miraculously,  not  only  that  he  himself  might  be  an  emi- 
nent believer,  but  that  he  might  be  an  accredited  teacher 
of  others  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  duties  of  the  Christian  hfe.  But, 
though  the  extent  of  your  knowledge  may  not  be  equal 
to  his,  still  it'is  necessary  for  you  to  have  knowledge,  as 
far  as  it  can  be  attained.  Labor,  therefore,  to  acquire 
correct  and  extensive  and  connected  views  of  divine 
truth,  by  perusing  what  he  and  the  other  insr)ired  writ- 
ers have  been  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  indite,  for 
the  edification  of  the  church ;  meditate  upon  what  you 
thus  read,  with  seriousness  and  diligence  ;  and  pray  for 
illumination  from  above,  to  accompany  the  instruction 
which  you  derive  from  the  written  word,  in  this  way, 
your  conscience  being  fully  enlightened,  and  duly  alive 
as  to  all  that  God  requires  you  to  do  and  be,  it  will  give 
neither  a  mistaken,  nor  a  hurtful  testimony :  on  the  con- 
trary, it  will  lead  you  to  cultivate  that  deportment  which 
accords  with  the  spirit  and  the  precepts  of  the  gospel ; 
and  while  it  permits  you  to  rejoice,  it  will  afford  you 
]4 


158  THE    TESTIMONY    OF    CONSCIENCE.         SER.   5. 

a  pledge  that  your  rejoicing  is  warranted,  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Him  who  is  "  greater  than  your  conscience, 
and  who  knoweth  all  things." 

Secondly,  Be  anxious  to  have  all  your  motives  pure. 
You  may  be  distinguished  by  many  outward  virtues, 
which  are  agreeable  to  the  letter  of  the  divine  law,  and 
which  will  secure  for  you  the  approbation  and  applause 
of  those  who  witness  them,  and  especially  of  those  who 
are  profited  by  them.  And  yet,  I  need  not  tell  you, 
that,  if  they  proceed  not  from  right  principles,  they  are 
destitute  of  all  real  value  ;  they  neidier  are  an  evidence 
of  your  interest  in  the  Redeemer,  nor  can  they  have 
any  effect  in  qualifying  you  for  heaven  ;  to  rejoice  in 
them  therefore,  would  be  to  rejoice  in  worthlessness  and 
vanity.  Your  great  concern  must  be  to  have  your 
hearts  purified  from  the  love  of  sin,  and  imbued  with  the 
love  of  holiness — to  have  established  within  you  those 
truths,  and  those  views,  which  God  has  sanctioned  as 
alone  worthy  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  his  people — 
and  on  every  occasion  to  give  to  them  their  full  opera- 
tion, in  preserving  you  from  sin,  and  in  stimulating  you 
to  duty.  This  will  secure  the  conduct,  which,  what- 
ever appearance  it  may  wear  in  the  eyes  of  men,  or 
whatever  bearing  it  may  have  on  the  interests  of  those 
who  are  affected  by  it,  is  acceptable  to  God  through 
Jesus  Christ — which  your  own  conscience  w^ill  ap- 
prove— and  which  will  authorize  you  to  comply  with 
the  invocation  of  the  Psalmist,  "Rejoice  in  the  Lord, 
and  be  glad  ye  righteous  ;  and  shout  for  joy  all  ye  that 
are  upright  in  heart." 

Thirdly,  See  that  your  character  be  consistent  and 
uniform.  It  is  not  an  insulated  deed  of  virtue  or  of 
charity,  which  will  afford  ground  for  "  the  rejoicing  tes- 
timony of  a  good  conscience."  The  deed  of  virtue 
which  stands  by  itself,  is  not,  in  truth,  a  Christian  virtue 
at  all.  An  action,  to  be  truly  virtuous,  must  stand  as- 
sociated with  virtue  of  every  description ;  and  what- 
ever legitimately  gives  birth  to  a  rejoicing  conscience, 
must  form  a  constituent  part  of  that  aggregate  of  excel- 


SER.  5.    THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CONSCIENCE.       159 

lence,  all  of  which  proceeds  from  a  divine  source,  and 
all  of  which  is  necessary  to  lead  to  a  heavenly   consum- 
mation.    If  your  conscience  dictate  one  holy  action,  be 
assured  it  will  dictate  every   other ;  and  it  will  not  ap- 
prove of  one,  if  the  rest  be  wanting,  nor  will  it  give  any 
sanction  to  the  joy  you  may  feel  on  account  of  that  one. 
It  is  requisite  that  this  be  the  testimony  of  your  con- 
science, not  that  you  have  been  righteous,  and  benevo- 
lent, and  sincere,  in  one  or  two  instances,  but  that  you 
have  been   so  in  the  general  course  and  tenor  of  your 
deportment ;  that  you  have  had  your   "  conversation  in 
the  world"  accommodated  throughout  to  the  law  of  God, 
and  pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  true  religion.     Surrender 
yourselves,  therefore,   wholly  to  the  service  of  the  Re- 
deemer ;  withhold  nothing  which  he  exacts;  indulge  in 
nothing  which  he  prohibits  ;  let  it  be  your  great  concern 
to  please  him  in  all  your  ways  ;  and  thus,  "  exercising 
yourselves  to  have  always  a  conscience  void  of  offence 
both  towaVds  God  and  towards  man,"  you  will  be  pos- 
sessed of  an  inward  "  testimony,"  with  which  will  be 
abundantly   connected    the  "  rejoicing,"  in   which   the 
apostle  so  freely  and  exultingly  indulged. 

Finally,  Never  forget  that  all  this  must  proceed  from 
"  the  grace  of  God."     To  this  the  apostle  refers  in  the 
text ;  and  we  can  never  be  too  often  reminded,  that  "  of 
ourselves  we  can  do  nothing,"  nothing  truly  good  or  ac- 
ceptable.    Unless,  therefore,  you  have  direction  and  as- 
sistance  from  on   high,  your   best    attainments  will  be 
meagre,  and  your  best  efforts  fruitless.     Let  me  exhort 
you,  then,  to   distrust  yourselves,  and  to  look  to  Christ, 
as  both  your  "  righteousness  and  your  strength."   Study 
to  do  all  things   in  his    name,  and  in  his  might.     Cast 
yourselves  upon  his  management,  that  he  may  "  guide 
you  by  his  counsel;"  upon  his  righteousness,  that  you 
may  find   favor   with   God  ;  upon  his  grace  and  spirit, 
that  he  may  "  sanctify  you  wholly."     And,  if  thus  He 
be   to  you  "  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  redemption,"  then  are  ye  "  complete  in  Him," 
and  your  "  rejoicing"  shall  be  full,  and  rapturous,  and 
everlasting. 


SERMON   VI.* 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  CHOICE. 


JOSHUA,  XXIV.  15. 

"  And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord,  choose 
you  this  day  ivhom  ye  will  served 

"  Seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord  !"  How  can 
the  service  of  the  Lord  seem  evil  to  any  one  who  is  not 
either  wholly  void  of  understanding,  or  altogether  har- 
dened against  religious  impressions  }  Were  I  to  put  the 
question  to  you,  my  friends,  if  you  deem  it  "  evil  to 
serve  the  Lord,"  is  there  one  of  you,  old  or  young,  who 
would  not  instantly  and  decidedly  answer  in  the  nega- 
tive .'*  And  were  I  again  to  ask  you,  if  you  did  not 
think  it  good  rather  to  serve  the  Lord,  would  not  you 
all  reply,  as  with  one  voice,  in  the  affirmative,  and  ac- 
knowledge that  to  do  so  must  be  your  duty,  your  hon- 
or, and  your  happiness  .''  Well,  then,  are  you  prepared 
to  say,  with  a  good  conscience,  that  you  are  in  fact 
serving  the  Lord  ^ 

By  some  of  you,  I  doubt  not,  an  answer  to  this 
inquiry  also  may  be  returned  ;  for  of  some  of  you,  I 
doubt  not,  it  may  be  truly  affirmed,  that,  redeemed  by 

*  Preached  for  the  Edinburgh  and  Leith  Seaman's  Friend  Society' 
in  St.  George's  Church,  Edinburgh,  on  the  evening  of  Sabbath,  the  lllh 
April,  1830. 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  161 

divine  mercy,  and  with  that  price  which  the  Son  of 
God  paid  for  your  ransom — released  from  those  bonds 
by  which  you  were  naturally  held  in  slavery,  and 
brought  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God, 
you  are  now  devoted  to  the  Lord,  doing  his  will  upon 
earth,  and  looking  for  the  recompense  which  he  has 
promised  to  his  servants  in  heaven. 

But  I  fear  there  are  others  of  you  of  whom  so  much 
cannot  be  truly  affirmed.  You  may,  indeed,  be  flat- 
tering yourselves  that  you  are  the  servants  of  God. 
You  may  be  offended  if  we  deny  that  this  is  your  char- 
acter. And  you  may  point  to  many  things  which  you 
regularly  and  habitually  do,  in  proof  that  we  are  mis- 
taken. You  are  not  avowed  unbelievers,  but  sober  and 
uniform  professors  of  Christianity.  You  abstain  from 
all  the  more  flagrant  of  those  oflences  which  the  divine 
law  forbids  ;  and  you  perform  all  the  more  important 
of  those  duties  which  the  divine  law  enjoins.  You 
come  punctually  to  the  house  of  prayer,  and  engage, 
with  every  appearance  of  devotion,  in  the  various  ex- 
ercises of  the  sanctuary.  You  are  kind  and  faithful  to 
your  friends.  You  are  just  and  honorable  in  your  deal- 
ings with  the  world.  And  there  are  many  to  bear 
witness  to  your  deeds  of  sympathy  and  beneficence. 

Now  all  this  may  be,  so  far,  a  correct  view  of  your 
deportment.  Still  more  virtues  might  have  been  in- 
cluded in  the  catalogue.  Your  character  may  shine 
with  still  greater  brilliancy,  and  be  possessed  of  still 
greater  respectability  and  worth.  And  yet  all  that  it 
exhibits  does  not  amount  to  any  satisfactory  evidence 
that  you  are  "  serving  the  Lord."  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
quite  compatible  with  your  serving  Mammon — with  your 
"  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures" — with  your  serving 
"  the  creature"  in  many  of  those  various  forms  which 
it  assumes  and  wears  as  the  object  of  attachment.  Re- 
member, my  friends,  that  the  service  of  God  is  exclu- 
sive. It  does  not  admit  of  interference,  or  of  compe- 
tition, or  of  divided  homage.  It  deserves — it  demands 
— and  it  must  have — the  whole  man.  If  it  be  accom- 
*]4 


162  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

panied  with  a  deliberate  or  habitual  withholding  of  the 
time,  the  talent,  the  affection,  the  activity — any  of  the 
offerings  which  God  claims  for  himself  as  the  great 
Supreme,  it  is  deprived  of  its  characteristic  principle, 
and  may  as  well  be  denominated  the  service  of  any 
other  master.  He  is  Lord  over  all ;  he  is  entitled  to 
your  unqualified  and  unreserved  submission  ;  whatever 
you  do,  it  must  be  done  in  conformity  to  his  will,  and 
in  subservience  to  his  glory;  this  is  a  right  which 
(eternally  inheres  in  him,  and  which  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  alienate  ;  and,  therefore,  when  you  indulge  in 
any  thing  which  implies  a  disregard  of  God's  sove- 
reignty,and  disobedience  to  God's  commandments,  and 
violation  of  God's  honor,  you  are  guilty  of  that  which  is 
inconsistent  with  the  devotedness  of  heart  and  life,  which 
must  ever  distinguish  those  by  whom  he  is  truly  served. 
It  is  of  no  consequence  how  many  things  you  do,  which 
are  literally  and  formally  prescribed  by  his  authority, 
if  yet  there  be  other  things  with  respect  to  which  his 
audiority  is  either  not  recognised  or  directly  contradict- 
ed. For,  in  that  case,  his  dominion  over  you  is,  with 
your  own  consent,  encjoached  upon  by  objects  to  which 
you  owe  no  allegiance,  and  to  which  you  cannot  pay  it, 
without  refusing  to  Him  what  is  due  upon  a  ground 
which  it  is  not  for  the  most  exahed  intelligences  that 
surround  his  throne  to  occupy — a  ground  which  it  is 
not  competent  even  for  the  universe  to  sliare  with  him 
— a  ground  which  he  alone  possesses  as  the  all-power- 
ful and  all- perfect  Being  who  made  you,  to  whom  you 
owe  all  that  you  are,  and  all  that  you  possess,  and  all 
that  you  can  do. 

And  this  holds  true  even  where  your  conduct  does 
not  involve  a  plain  and  manifest  transgression  of  any 
part  of  the  decalogue.  To  convict  you  of  being 
unfaithful  to  God's  service,  it  is  not  necessary  that 
you  be  chargeable  with  some  specific  crime,  or  with 
some  course  of  immorality.  Something  nuich  less 
heinous  in  its  nature,  and  much  less  striking  in  its  as- 
pect, will  answer  the   purpose.     From   the  spirit  and 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  163 

manner  in  which  you  engage  in  the  pursuits  of  lawful 
business — from  the  sort  of  amusements  and  recreations 
to  which  you  hetake  yourselves,  the  time  that  you  waste 
upon  them,  the  expense  at  wliich  you  indulge  in  them 
— from  the  liking  which  you  cherish,  and  the  attention 
which  you  practically  give,  to  any  thing  whatsoever 
connected  with  the  world  or  things  created — from  these 
it  may  be  seen,  that  the  ascendency  over  you  is  pos- 
sessed, not  by  God  alone,  but  by  something  else,  with 
which  he  neither  can,  nor  will,  share  his  governing  pre- 
rogative; and  that,  consequently,  the  service  which, 
in  other  points,  you  may  imagine  you  are  rendering  to 
him,  is  a  service  only  in  name  and  in  fancy — a  service 
in  which  the  works  of  his  own  hands,  or  the  gifts  of  his 
own  bounty,  or  even  the  enemies  to  his  own  sway,  are 
put  upon  a  level  with  himself — a  service,  therefore,  of 
which  he  does  not  approve,  and  which  he  will  never 
reward.  His  requisition  to  each  one  of  you  is,  "  Give 
me  thy  heart."'  He  requires  your  heart — your  whole 
heart — your  heart  widi  all  its  principles,  and  disposi- 
tions, and  sensibilities.  And  if  your  heart  be  thus  sur- 
rendered to  him,  the  conduct,  which  is  but  a  demon- 
stration of  its  influence  and  actings,  will  exhibit,  in  all 
its  departments,  and  in  all  its  bearings,  a  single  regard 
to  his  will  and  glory  ;  so  that  you  will  addict  yourselves 
to  nodiing  which  is  at  acknowledged  variance  with 
these,  and  even  your  most  innocent  pursuits  will  be  in 
subserviency  or  in  subordination  to  them.  And  they 
who,  with  the  eye  of  holy  observation,  watch  you  as 
you  are  occupied  in  the  various  employments,  and  as 
you  pass  through  the  various  scenes  and  vicissitudes  of 
life,  will  perceive,  that,  wherever  you  are,  and  what- 
ever you  do,  all  your  works  constitute  and  are  referable 
to  one  service — that  you  "  serve  the  Lord,  and  that  you 
have  no  other  gods  but  him."  But,  should  there  be 
one  particular  course  of  action,  however  inconsiderable 
it  may  be  deemed,  and  however  harmless  it  may  be  in 
its  effects  upon  others,  in  which  you  are  chargeable 
with  forgetting  God,  or  with  opposing  him,  that  affords 


164  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

proof  unquestionable,  that  He  is  not  reigning  in  and 
over  your  heart — that  there  prevails,  and  is  cherished, 
a  hostile  authority  at  the  very  seat  and  source  of  all 
acceptable  homage — that  the  seeming  excellencies  by 
which  you  are  distinguished  are  nothing  better  than 
tributes  which  you  pay  to  public  opinion,  or  to  selfish 
ambition,  or  to  outward  necessity — and  that,  with  all 
the  profession,  and  all  the  appearance,  of  serving  the 
Lord,  it  is  the  melancholy  and  undeniable  fact,  that 
other  masters  have  been  allowed  to  usurp  his  place,  and 
are  holding  their  unrighteous  dominion  over  you. 

Nay,  but  moreover,  think  my  friends,  what  it  is  to 
serve  the  Lord,  as  believers  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son. 
Without  this  belief,  which  you  profess  to  cherish,  not 
only  is  there  no  salvation  for  you  hereafter,  but  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  here,  as  your  serving  the  Lord 
acceptably.  You  are  placed  under  the  dispensation  of 
tlie  gospel.  You  are  not  entitled  to  contemplate  God, 
except  in  the  light  in  which  he  hos  been  pleased  to  re- 
veal himself.  And  all  the  regards  that  you  offer  to 
him,  must  be  in  compliance  with  the  principles  which 
he  has  laid  down,  and  the  claims  which  he  has  pre- 
ferred, as  "the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  The  service  which  you  render,  must  be  the 
service  you  owe  him  as  a  redeeming  God.  It  must 
imply  a  fulfilment  of  those  obligations  under  which,  in 
that  capacity,  he  has  laid  you.  And  it  must  stand  in  a 
just  relation  to  that  future  recompense  which  he  has 
taught  you  to  expect  from  "  Him  whom  he  has  ap- 
pointed to  judge  the  world  in  righteousness." 

Now,  if  you  have  been  redeemed  ;  if  you  have  been 
taken  from  under  the  curse  of  the  law,  rescued  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption,  delivered  out  of  the  hands  of 
your  spiritual  enemies,  brought  into  a  state  of  peace  and 
reconciliation  with  God,  and  made  heirs  of  his  heavenly 
kingdom  ;  and  if  this  be  your  faith,  your  feeling,  and 
your  experience,  think  you  that  there  is  aught  in  the 
wide  universe  that  can  rightly  interfere  between  you 
and  Him  who  has  thus  saved  you,  or  to  which  you  can 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  165 

yield  even  the  smallest  portion  of  that  obeisance,  all  of 
which,  though  it  were  infinitely  greater  than  it  ever  can 
be,  he  has  so  graciously,  and  so  dearly,  purchased  ? 
What  has  the  devil,  or  the  world,  or  the  flesh  done  for 
your  emancipation  from  sin  and  wretchedness  ?  Have 
not  they  wrought — are  not  they  working  perpetually, 
for  your  continuance  in  that  miserable  state  into  which 
the  fall  has  brought  you  ?  Is  it  not  one  of  God's  pur- 
poses— one  of  the  benefits  of  that  freedom  which  the 
Saviour  has  accomplished  in  your  behalf,  to  destroy 
their  tyrannical  and  pernicious  domination  over  your 
souls  ?  And  how  then  can  you  listen  to  their  sugges- 
tions, or  be  guided  by  their  influence,  without  despising 
the  deliverance  which  must  be  unspeakably  precious  to 
you,  or  not  precious  at  all ;  without  refusing  to  pay  that 
debt  of  gratitude  which  you  have  contracted  to  him, 
from  whose  unmerited  and  rich  mercy  it  has  all  pro- 
ceeded ;  and  without  virtually  declaring  your  prefer- 
ence of  that  degrading  and  destructive  servitude  out  of 
which  he  has  brought  you,  to  the  spiritual  liberty,  and 
the  celestial  hopes,  into  the  possession  of  which  he  has 
introduced  you  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  beloved  Son  ? 
If  the  redemption  with  which  God  visited  the  Israelites, 
when  he  "  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage,"  furnished  Joshua  with  a 
powerful  and  conclusive  argument  for  their  entei'ing  into 
a  covenant  to  "  serve  the  Lord  only,  and  to  serve  him 
fully  ;"  how  potent,  how  persuasive,  how  overpowering, 
must  the  argument  be,  to  constrain  you  to  consecrate 
yourselves  to  his  service,  when  you  consider  the  re- 
demption which  he  has  accomplished  in  your  behalf, 
and  of  which  he  makes  you  the  abundant,  though  un- 
deserving partakers — a  redemption  embracing  the  wel- 
fare of  your  never-dying  souls,  and  commensurate  with 
the  duration  of  eternity  ?  You  are  "  not  your  own" — 
you  are  God's — "you  are  bought  with  a  price,"  and 
therefore  bound  by  the  most  sacred  and  endearing  ties, 
to  "  glorify  him  in  your  bodies  and  in  your  spirits  which 
are  his."     And  being  thus  the  property  of  God — being 


166  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

his  by  the  right  of  purchase — a  purchase  dictated  by 
ineffable  love,  made  at  a  costly  rate,  and  issuing  in  glo- 
rious and  permanent  results  to  you  who  are  the  subjects 
of  it,  what  room  is  there  left  for  the  demands  of  any 
created  being  on  your  reverence  or  submission,  apart 
from  his  or  contrary  to  it  ?  And  how  can  you  be  his 
servants,  while  there  is  a  single  feeling  of  your  heart,  or 
a  single  action  of  your  life,  willingly  devoted  to  any 
other  claimant  on  your  obedience,  whose  wishes  or 
whose  exactions  he  has  not  seen  meet  to  sanction  ? 

Now,  my  friends,  apply  this  test  to  yourselves.     It  is 
no  doubt  a  strict  and  searching  one.     But  it  is  scriptural 
and  true.     Apply  it  to  yourselves,  and  say  if  it  does  not 
ascertain,  beyond  all  controversy,  that  there  are  those  of 
you,  and  not  a  few,  who  do  not  "  serve  the  Lord."     Tn 
his  external  service,  both  as  it  respects  the  positive  insti- 
tutions of  religion,  and   the  more   prominent   offices  of 
morality,  you  may  engage  with  great  frequency  and  with 
seeming  zeal.     But,  alas  !  not  to  speak  of  those  habits 
of  thought  and  sentiment  which  our  vision  cannot  reach, 
and  of  those  manifold  occupations  which  you  hide  from 
us  with  the  veil  of  secrecy  and  retirement,  do  not  we  see 
you  every  day  giving  yourselves  to  practices  and  to  grat- 
ifications, which  indicate   any  thing  but  the  fear  or  the 
love  of  God,  and  which,  if  you  will  only  make  the  at- 
tempt to  reconcile  them  with  his  service,  you  will  find 
to  be  not  merely  discordant  with  it,  but  utterly  hostile 
to  it,  both  in  spirit  and  in  letter.     Those  recreations  and 
gaieties  are  sometimes  dearest  to  you,  which  most  unfit 
you    for  the   duties  of  his   Sabbath  and  his   sanctuary, 
which  banish  from  your  mind  most  easily  all  serious  con- 
cern about  your  present  relation   and  your  final  respon- 
sibility to  him,  and  which   draw  most  largely  on  the  re- 
sources whh  which  he  has  supplied  you  as  stewards  of 
his  bounty,  for  ministering  to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and 
the  instruction  of  the  ignorant.     Sometimes,  in  the  de- 
tails of  your   lawful   calling,    you    act    upon    maxims 
which  stand  opposed  to  the  declarations  and  dictates  of 
his  word,    and  prosecute  your  secular  plans  with  an 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  167 

eagerness  which  shows  that  you  are  looking  no  higher 
than  temporal  prosperity  for  your  motive  to  industry ; 
that  in  your  labors  to   accumulate  wealth,  or  to  provide 
for  yourselves  the  meat  and  the  gold  that  perisheth,  you 
are   careless  about  that   blessing    of  his   which   alone 
"  maketh  truly  rich  ;"  and  that  you  are  willing  to  live  as 
if  he  had  given  you  nothing  in  trust,  and  had  never  said 
to  you,  "  Occupy  till  1  come."     And  sometimes,  from 
the  mode  in   which  you  perform  what  is   even   right  in 
itself  and   commanded   by  God,  we   cannot  help  con- 
cluding that  you  are  doing  it,  not  "  unto  the  Lord,  but 
unto  men," — not  willingly  or  cheerfully,  but  with  a  re- 
luctant, grudging,  discontented  mind — not  from  the  con- 
straining  influence  of  those   considerations   which  the 
gospel  intimates  and  urges,  and  which  are  sanctified  by 
their  uniform  reference  to   God,  but  with  the  sole  view 
of  advancing  your  secular  interests,  or  of  recommending 
yourselves  to  the  favor  and  the  patronage  of  your  fellow- 
sinners.     And  do  not  suppose  that  the  evil  to  which  1 
allude  is  to  be  found  only  in  such  of  you  as  manifest  a 
glaring  example,  or  a  very  offensive  degree,  of  that  con- 
trariety which    subsists   between    those   parts  of  your 
character  that  have  the  aspect  of  serving  the  Lord,  and 
those  other  parts  of  it  that  neutralize  these  mistaken  or 
hypocritical  pretensions.     It  will  be  discovered  in  the 
case  of  every  one  of  you,  the  tenor  of  whose  life  is  not 
governed  by  the  paramount  authority  of  "  thus  saith  the 
Lord  5"  who  does  not  in  small  as  well  as  in  great  things, 
study  a  scrupulous  conformity  to  the  divine  will ;  who 
obeys,  when  he  does  obey,  God,   in  that  cold  and  per- 
functory manner,  which  denotes  the  absence  of  all  cor- 
diality, all  cheerfulness,  all  delight  in  "  running  the  way 
of  his  commSndments  ;"  who,  in  his   inmost  heart  and 
least  open  transactions,  does  not  set  himself  to  be  faithful 
and  devoted,  equally  as  in  his  external  demeanor,  and 
in  his  most  undisguised  and  notorious  deeds ;  who  has 
it  not  as  the  object  of  his  fervent  desire   and   his  con- 
stant   endeavor,  to  yield    an    unqualified,    unresisting, 
undivided,  free,  and  full  subjection  to  the  sway  of  Him, 


168  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

whose  he  is  by  creating  goodness,  preserving  mercy, 
redeeming  grace,  and  who  has  laid  him  under  obhga- 
tions  of  gratitude  and  obedience,  which  the  mixed  and 
imperfect  dutifulness  of  his  mortal  pilgrimage  can  but 
barely  acknowledge,  and  which  all  the  sinless  and  lofty 
services  of  immortality  will  never  be  able  to  exhaust. 

To  all  such  I  would  now  address  the  exhortation  of 
the  text ;  an  exhortation  justly  applicable  to  them,  and 
meriting  their  deepest  and  most  anxious  attention. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  choose  you  whom  you  will  serve, 
— the  Lord,  or  those  idols  which  an  evil  heart  of  unbe- 
lief has  substituted  in  His  place. 

From  what  we  have  just  now  said,  it  may  be  con- 
cluded that  you  have  already  and  actually  made  your 
choice.  And  doubtless,  in  one  sense,  this  is  true. 
Whatever  you  may  think,  there  is  in  each  of  you  a 
fixedness  of  character,  resulting  from  the  determinations 
of  your  own  minds,  which  may  be  discovered  by  those 
who  look  at  it  in  the  light  of  divine  truth,  and  "judge 
righteous  judgment ;"  which,  at  any  rate,  is  clear  and 
unambiguous  to  the  eye  of  the  heart-searching  and  om- 
niscient God  ;  and  which  will  most  certainly  decide 
your  destiny  on  that  day  which  shall  forever  separate 
"  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  between  those 
wdio  serve  the  Lord  and  those  who  serve  him  not." 

You  may  allege,  that  it  does  not  "  seem  evil  to  you 
to  serve  the  Lord."  And,  speculatively,  as  we  have 
already  remarked,  this  may  be  true  ;  but,  really  and 
practically,  it  is  false.  You  think,  you  feel,  you  act,  as 
if  it  did  "  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord." 
There  is  a  latent  repugnance  in  your  minds  to  his  ser- 
vice. There  is  an  embodied  hostility  or  indifference  to 
it,  in  your  every-day  doings.  There  is  a  real  devoted- 
ness  to  those  w4iom  you  ought  not  to  serve,  which  is 
essentially  and  irreconcileably  inconsistent  with  a  real  de- 
votedness  to  Him  whom  you  ought  to  serve.  Two  mas- 
ters, so  opposite  as  the  one  is  to  die  other  in  this  case, 
you  cannot  possibly  serve ;  and,  from  the  claims  and  the 
character  of  the  true  God,  and  from  the  claims  and  the 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  169 

character  of  those  false  gods  which  men's  wicked  pas- 
sions have  created  for  themselves,  it  is  evident,  that,  if 
you  serve  them,  you  cannot  serve  Him.  And  the  idea 
that  you  are  submitting  to  His  sway,  when  you  are,  in 
fact,  their  slaves,  merely  because  you  reject  the  atro- 
cious saying,  that  it  is  "  evil  to  serve  the  Lord,"  and 
are  not  disinclined  to  do  many  things  included  in  that 
service,  is  all  a  delusion,  which,  however  long  it  may 
last  in  this  land  of  self-deception  and  shadows,  must 
inevitably  be  broken  when  God  "  brings  every  secret 
thought  into  judgment,  and  gives  to  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  works." 

Now,  it  is  our  wish  that  this  delusion,  so  sad  and  so 
fatal,  under  which  you  labor,  should  be  broken  before 
the  day  of  retribution  comes.  We  are  anxious  that  your 
eyes  should  now  be  opened  to  see  the  folly  and  the 
danger  in  which  you  are  involved — that  your  hearts 
should  now  be  undeceived,  as  to  the  real  position  in 
which  you  stand — that  your  purposes  should  now  be 
directed  towards  that  object,  on  which  alone  they  can 
be  rightly  and  safely  fixed — that  your  feet  should  now 
be  turned  away  from  the  path  of  error  and  of  ruin,  and 
guided  into  "  the  narrow  way  that  leadeth  unto  life." 
You  have  been  "  hahing  between  two  opinions ;"  we 
are  desirous  that  you  should  embrace  one  of  them,  and 
that  you  should  abide  by  it.  You  have  been  trying  to 
amalgamate  two  systems :  we  are  desirous  that  you 
should  abandon  the  one,  and  cleave  to  the  other.  You 
have  been  taxing  your  ingenuity  to  serve  two  masters : 
we  are  desirous  that  you  should  confine  your  labors, 
and  your  attachments,  and  your  duties,  to  one  of  these, 
and  that  you  should  forsake  the  other  without  lingering 
and  without  reserve.  We  are  desirous  that  you  should 
adopt  this  decided  mode  of  proceeding,  because  it  alone 
is  wise  and  safe.  And  imagine  not,  that,  when  we  ex- 
hort you  to  make  your  choice,  wh  mean  to  insinuate, 
that,  on  whatever  side  of  the  question  your  choice  may 
fall,  it  will  be  well  for  you,  either  in  time  or  in  eternity. 
In  exhorting  you  to  make  your  choice,  we  proceed  on 
15 


170  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  SER.  6. 

the  conviction,  and  the  certainty,  that  the  one  alternative 
is  life,  and  that  the  other  alternative  is  death — that 
either  heaven  or  hell  must  be  the  result  of  the  option 
which  you  are  called  to  exercise.  But  we  give  the  ex- 
hortation, that  your  attention  may  be  directed  to  the 
fallacy  of  your  conduct,  and  to  the  perils  of  your  con- 
dition ;  that  you  may  no  longer  attempt  to  compromise 
what  no  power  in  heaven  or  on  earth  can  ever  make  to 
agree  ;  that  you  may  be  led  to  look  steadily  and  impar- 
tially at  all  the  merits  of  the  case,  as  to  which  you  have 
been  hitherto  most  dangerously  indifferent  and  remiss ; 
that  you  may  compare  the  course  you  have  been  pur- 
suing, with  what  the  word  of  God  has  told  you  of  your 
spiritual  and  moral  obligations ;  that  you  may  find  out 
the  necessary  and  immeasurable  difference,  between 
"serving  the  Lord,"  and  living  as  you  have  been  ac- 
customed to  do ;  and  that,  setting  the  one  over  against 
the  other,  you  may  behold,  in  the  contrast  which  is  pre- 
sented to  your  view,  what  should  effectually  constrain 
you  to  cease  from  the  unlawful  service  in  which  you 
have  hitherto  employed  your  faculties,  and  attach  your- 
selves exclusively  and  devotedly  to  that  holy  and  god- 
like service,  from  which  it  stands  at  a  vast  and  unap- 
proachable distance,  both  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  in 
the  destiny  of  man. 

"  Choose,  then,  whom  ye  will  serve."  If  folly  be 
permitted  to  direct  you — if  dishonor  have  any  charms 
in  your  regard — if  insensibility  to  infinite  goodness,  or 
defiance  of  almighty  power,  be  esteemed  by  you  a  vir- 
tue— and  if  you  wish  that  everlasting  destruction  should 
be  your  end, — then  choose  to  serve  sin — to  serve  Satan 
— to  serve  the  world — to  serve  whatsoever  would  tempt 
you  to  ungodly  actions,  or  to  criminal  indulgence ;  for, 
most  assuredly,  of  this  service  it  may  be  truly  said,  that 
its  labors  are  debasement — its  joys,  madness — its  wages, 
eternal  death.  No,  my  friends,  you  cannot,  you  will 
not,  choose  such  a  service  as  this.  "  Choose,  then, 
whom  ye  will  serve," — and  "choose  the  Lord."  His 
service  is  the  highest  glory  of  your  nature — the  most 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  171 

perfect  liberty  of  rational  and  moral  beings — the  surest 
and  most  fertile  source  of  inward  comfort  and  outward 
prosperity.  It  is  sweetened  by  the  saving  mercy,  and 
animated  by  the  gracious  help  of  Him  who  prescribes 
it,  and  to  whom  it  is  rendered.  It  is  the  work  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  operating  on  the  subjects  of  his  regener- 
ating power  and  his  sanctifying  agency.  It  is  the  fruit 
of  that  offering  of  Himself,  by  which  Jesus  Christ  ex- 
piated our  guilt,  and  thus  "  purged  our  consciences 
from  dead  works,  that  we  should  serve  the  living  God." 
It  exalts  those  who  are  enabled  to  perform  it,  to  an 
alliance  with  the  ministering  angels  on  high,  and  links 
them  to  the  throne  of  the  Eternal.  And,  whatever  may 
be  the  toils,  and  the  trials,  and  the  sorrows,  with  which 
it  is  connected,  or  of  which  it  is  productive  upon  earth, 
it  has  the  divine  promise  of  present  support  and  conso- 
lation suited  to  all  such  exigencies,  and  of  a  reward  in 
the  heavenly  world,  whose  richness  no  tongue  can 
utter,  and  no  imagination  conceive. 

"  Choose  the  Lord"  then  as  the  King,  the  Master, 
the  Saviour  "  whom  you  will  serve."  Make  a  cove- 
nant with  him  in  your  hearts,  that  no  other  shall  receive 
your  homage.  Look  into  his  word,  and  have  recourse 
to  it  as  the  directory  which  is  to  guide  you  in  all  your 
endeavors  to  please  and  to  honor  him.  Let  your  minds 
dwell  habitually  on  the  tenderness  with  which  he  has 
pitied,  and  redeemed,  and  called  you.  Resist  every 
allurement  which  would  make  you  either  remiss  or  un- 
faithful, in  the  work  he  has  given  you  to  perform.  Pray 
to  him  for  the  pardon  of  those  offences  and  short-com- 
ings which  accompany  your  best  and  purest  acts  of  sub- 
mission to  his  authority,  and  for  that  strength  which  he 
alone  can  impart  for  "  upholding  your  goings  in  his 
ways,  that  your  footsteps  slide  not."  Study  fidelity  to 
him  in  the  least,  as  well  as  in  the  greatest,  of  the  duties 
which  he  requires  from  you — in  the  most  sequestered, 
as  well  as  in  the  most  public,  of  those  scenes  in  which 
he  appoints  you  to  labor  for  his  cause.  Let  every 
movement  you  make  in  obedience  to  his  command,  or 


l72  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

in  promotion  of  hisbonor,be  animated  by  tbe  spirit  of  love, 
invigorated  by  tbe  exercise  of  faith,  and  enlivened  by  a 
sense  of  bis  kindness,  who  enjoins  and  who  requires  it. 
And  be  ever  looking  forward  to  the  recompense  which 
awaits  you  in  tbe  kingdom  of  the  just,  that  you  may  be 
cheered  amidst  all  your  difficuhies  and  discouragements, 
and  stimulated  to  still  greater  activity,  and  trained  to 
still  greater  patience,  in  doing  and  in  suffering  all  his 
holy  Avill  concerning  you. 

13ut  some  of  you,  perhaps,  though  satisfied  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  exhortation,  and  of  the  necessity  of  fol- 
lowing it,  are  unwilling  to  make  your  choice  immedi- 
ately, and  would  rather  continue  a  little  longer  that 
mixed  and  compromising  service  in  which  God  and 
Mammon  have  been  equally  the  objects  of  your 
regard. 

2.  To  all  such  I  w^ould,  secondly,  address  the  ex- 
hortation, "  Choose  ye,  this  day,  whom  ye  will  serve." 

Having  acknowledged  that  you  have  been  in  error, — 
gross,  grievous,  and  perilous  error, — why  should  you 
delay  forsaking  it?  Is  not  this  to  belie  your  own  pro- 
fessed convictions  ?  Is  it  not  deliberately  to  prefer  the 
wrong  to  the  right — the  hazardous  to  the  safe — the 
miserable  to  the  happy  ?  Is  it  not  to  bargain  with  God 
— for  the  exhortation,  though  addressed  to  you  through 
the  medium  of  his  servants,  proceeds  from  Himself — is 
it  not  to  bargain  with  God,  as  it  were,  to  permit  you  to 
remain  somewhat  longer  out  of  his  household,  and  to 
indulge  yourselves  somewhat  longer  in  that  which  of- 
fends and  dishonors  Him  ?  And  the  compensation  you 
offer  is  that  having  obtained  this  concession  from  the 
great  and  holy  Being,  from  whom,  after  all,  it  is  impos- 
sible you  can  really  hope  to  obtain  it,  you  will  then  re- 
turn to  Him  from  whom  you  should  never  have  depart- 
ed, and  yield  to  Him  that  obedience  which  you  should 
never  have  withheld.  O  how  can  you  justify  or  ex- 
cuse yourselves  for  making  such  a  proposal,  or  attempt- 
ing such  a  species  of  procrastination.  It  is  adding  sin 
to  sin — folly  to  folly — peril  to  peril. 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  173 

"  Choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve ;"  and 
instead  of  hesitating,  as  if  you  might  still  snatch  another 
pleasure  before  you  renounce  your  connexion  with  the 
world,  account  "  the  time  past,  as  far  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  have  wrought  the  will  of  the  flesh."  Wonder 
at  the  forbearance  of  God  in  not  making  you  long  since 
a  monument  of  his  righteous  anger  against  the  unholy 
and  impenitent.  And  let  your  experience  of  his 
sparing  mercy  awaken  in  you  such  shame,  such  grief, 
such  repentings  for  having  so  obstinately  kept  away 
from  him,  and  so  ungratefully  requited  him,  as  that  you 
will  feel  it  to  be  unpardonable  guilt  to  delay  for  another 
moment  casting  yourselves  into  the  arms  of  his  com- 
passion, and  going  to  "  work  in  his  vineyard." 

"  Choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve  ;"  because 
the  sooner  that  you  enter  on  God's  service,  in  its  full 
import,  the  sooner  will  you  consult  the  dignity  of  that 
rational  nature  which  he  has  given  you,  and  which  you 
have  been  hitherto  degrading,  by  keeping  it  in  the 
bondage  of  moral  corruption  ;  the  more  will  you  con- 
sult the  obligations  which  you  owe  to  him  as  your  ben- 
efactor, and  your  Saviour — obligations  which  no  cir- 
cumstances can  ever  weaken  or  annul ;  and  the  more 
will  you  consult  your  comfort  and  well-being,  as  inhab- 
itants of  the  scene  which  you  now  occupy,  and  in  which 
the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  the  keeping  of  his  command- 
ments are  as  contributive  to  the  happiness  of  a  present 
life,  as  they  are  essential  to  your  preparation  for  a  fu- 
ture and  a  better. 

"  Choose  you  this  day  whom  you  will  serve ;"  because 
to  delay  the  change  which  a  right  choice  implies,  will 
be  the  means  of  rendering  it  more  difficult  in  the  end. 
The  habits  which  at  present  control  you  in  your  pur- 
poses of  reformation,  and  indispose  you  for  the  execu- 
tion of  them,  will  grow  gradually  stronger  as  you  ad- 
vance in  your  wayward  career.  And  die  same  deceit- 
ful arguments — the  same  delusive  influences  which  are 
now  prevailing  over  your  convictions,  will  occur  with 
*15 


174  THE  christian's   choice.  SER.  6. 

more  insinuating  address,  and  operate  with  more  for- 
midable power,  at  every  future  period  of  your  course. 

"  Choose  you  this  day  whom  you  v^ill  serve  ;"  for  if 
you  do  not  embrace  the  existing  opportunity  of  de- 
voting yourselves  wholly  and  heartily  to  God,  which  is 
your  reasonable  and  bounden  service,  another  oppor- 
tunity may  never  be  afforded.  Many  things  may  hap- 
pen to  prevent  you  from  carrying  your  resolution  into 
effect,  even  supposing,  what  is  extremely  doubtful,  that 
your  resolution  is  sincere,  and  ample,  and  decided. 
Engrossing  worldly  cares,  agonizing  disease,  helpless 
debility,  mental  alienation,  may  put  an  interdict  on  your 
best  designs,  and  exclude  you  from  any  farther  partic- 
ipation, even  in  that  imperfect  and  defective  service,  in 
which  you  have  been  so  long  and  so  vainly  confiding. 
And  death  itself  may  come  upon  you  at  an  unexpected 
moment,  and  suddenly  remove  you  to  that  dread  reck- 
oning, which  will  make  no  account  of  the  purposes  that 
you  formed,  and  delayed  to  fulfil ;  which  will  rather 
pronounce  it  to  be  an  aggravation  of  your  guilt  and 
of  your  doom,  that  you  knew  what  was  good,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  what  was  evil — that  you  determined  to 
serve  God,  and  yet  continued  to  serve  his  enemies  till 
you  should  be  pleased  to  exchange  their  service  for  his, 
and  that  thus  you  treasured  up  for  yourselves,  amidst 
the  obvious  warnings  of  his  providence,  and  amidst  the 
confessed  workings  of  his  grace,  a  larger  measure  of 
that  righteous  indignation,  which  he  has  threatened  to 
pour  out  on  all  those  who  "  will  not  have  him  to  rule 
over  them,"  or  who  "  serve  the  creature  more  than  the 
Creator." 

O  be  wise,  then  ;  and  "  choose  this  day,"  this  very 
day,  whom  you  will  serve.  Give  yourselves  to  God — 
give  yourselves  to  God  wholly — give  yourselves  to  God 
now,  and  give  yourselves  to  God  forever. 

To  such  of  you  as  have  already  made  your  choice,  and 
have  chosen  "  the  good  part,"  I  would  now  address 
myself.  And  perhaps  you  may  think,  that  I  have  been 
neglecting  you,  and  occupying  myself  too  exclusively 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  175 

with  those  of  a  different  and  opposite  character.  But 
if  you  will  give  scope  to  your  Christian  feelings,  my 
apology  for  acting  thus  will  he  obvious  and  sufficient. 
Let  there  be  but  "  one  sheep"  that  has  gone  astray, 
and  is  wandering  at  a  distance  from  the  good  Shep- 
herd, and  on  the  eve  of  perishing,  have  I  not  great 
authority  for  leaving  tli^  "  ninety  and  nine"  and  going 
forth  to  seek  for  that  solitary  wanderer,  if  haply  I 
may  find  him,  and  bring  him  back  in  safety  to  the 
fold  which  he  had  left,  that  there  may  be  joy  on  earth, 
and  that  there  may  be  joy  in  heaven.  And  alas  !  may 
it  not  be  presumed,  even  with  the  utmost  stretch  of  that 
"  charity  which  hopeth  all  things  and  believeth  all 
things,"  that,  instead  of  one  only,  there  are  many  in 
this  large  assembly,  to  whom  the  service  of  God  is 
still  a  strange  or  a  distasteful  work,  and  who  in  affec- 
tion and  in  practice  have  joined  themselves  to  idols,  and 
are  in  bondage  to  the  world  and  to  sin  ?  And  surely, 
my  Christian  friends,  you  cannot  grudge  any  efforts  that 
may  be  made  by  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  to  awaken 
such  from  their  spiritual  slumbers,  to  rouse  them  to  an 
alarming  sense  of  their  condition,  to  reclaim  them  from 
the  paths  of  guilt  and  ruin,  and  to  bring  them  to  that 
Saviour  who  bled  for  their  souls,  who  weeps  for  their 
infatuation,  who  has  commissioned  us  to  beseech  them 
to  be  reconciled,  and  who  calls  upon  them  from  his 
throne  on  high  to  repent,  and  believe,  and  live.  You 
know  the  misery  of  that  state  in  which  they  are  now 
living,  for  you  have  lived  in  it  yourselves.  You  know 
the  safety,  and  the  comfort,  and  the  happiness  of  being 
redeemed  from  it,  and  becoming  the  servants  of  him 
who  paid  the  ransom ;  lor  you  possess  and  feel,  what 
you  would  not  exchange  for  a  thousand  worlds.  And 
it  is  a  first  lesson  of  the  grace  that  has  brought  you  this 
salvation,  a  first  fruit  of  that  delightful  experience, 
which  is  so  precious  to  you,  that  your  compassions  go 
forth  upon  them  who  are  still  far  from  God,  and  far 
from  righteousness ;  that  you  supplicate  the  Father  of 
mercies  ia  their  behalf,  that  you  withhold  no  aid  and 


176  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

refuse  no  exertion,  which  may  be  blessed  as  an  instru- 
ment for  emancipating  and  saving  them.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  murmuring  that  I  have  done  what  I  could, 
to  persuade  them  to  choose  the  service  of  God,  to  the 
utter  and  eternal  abandonment  of  all  other  services,  I 
trust  that  your  secret,  but  fervent  prayers  have  gone 
along  with  every  argument  I  have  urged,  with  every 
expostulation  I  have  used,  with  every  threatening  I 
have  held  out,  with  every  invitation  1  have  given,  to 
prevail  upon  the  apostate  sinners  who  are  beside  you, 
and  among  you,  and  around  you,  to  hasten  away  from 
all  that  has  been  hitherto  ensnaring  their  hearts,  or 
binding  them  over  to  the  debasing  drudgeries,  and  the 
unreal  joys,  of  a  moral  despotism,  to  come  into  that 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes  his  people  free,  and  to 
consecrate  their  all  to  the  will  and  to  the  glory  of  a 
Master  who,  as  he  has  given  himself  for  their  ransom, 
will  impart  to  them  his  Spirit  for  their  help,  and  confer 
upon  tliem  immortality  for  their  reward. 

And  1  trust  that  your  sympathies  will  accompany  me, 
as  I  bid  you  take  a  wider  range,  and  not  cease  from 
your  prayers  and  your  exertions,  while  there  is  a  human 
being  within  your  reach  whose  heart  rests  upon  the 
creature,  and  whose  return  you  may  encourage  to  the 
worship  and  service  of  the  great  Creator.  Alas'!  what 
multitudes  are  there  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  who  are 
daily  "  bowing  the  knee  to  Baal," — who  are  doing 
homage  at  the  shrine  of  Mammon — who  are  "led  cap- 
tive by  Satan  at  his  will" — who  are  eager  and  indus- 
trious, in  doing  whatsoever  their  unholy  passions  bid 
them,  and  who  either  know  not  God  at  all,  or  only  ren- 
der him  that  obedience  which  can  be  spared  from  the 
obedience  of  the  "  other  lords"  who  have  acquired  the 
mastery  over  them.  Here  is  a  field  of  spiritual  benev- 
olence on  which  you  may  expatiate  with  ceaseless 
interest,  and  toil  with  ceaseless  activity ;  and  it  is  your 
duty,  as  the  servants  of  Christ,  to  cultivate  it  according 
to  your  talents  and  your  means  and  your  opportunities, 
that  you  may  not  be  wanting  in  what  you  owe  at  once 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  177 

to    your  merciful  Redeemer,    and   to   your   perishing 
brethren. 

I  call  your  attention  this  evening  to  a  class  of  men — 
your  fellow-subjects,  your  neighbors, — whose  situation 
demands  your  kindness  and  your  care ;  and  I  plead 
with  you  in  behalf  of  an  Institution  which  is  laboring 
affectionately,  diligently,  and  successfully  for  their  high- 
est and  most  enduring  interests.  The  Edinburgh  and 
Leith  Seaman's  Friend  Society  must  be  already  well 
known  to  you,  for  it  has  existed  for  many  years  :  it  has 
carried  on  its  meritorious  work  at  your  vevy  door,  and 
under  your  very  eye  :  it  has  frequently  appealed  to  you 
for  support,  and  has  received  it ;  and  no  one  has  pre- 
tended to  doubt  that  its  efforts  have  been  both  wise  and 
vigorous,  and  that  it  has  been  honored,  under  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven,  to  confer  signal  benefits  on  that  inter- 
esting part  of  the  population  whom  it  has  taken  under 
its  guardianship,  and  visited  with  its  mercy.  It  cares 
for  their  temporal  comfort,  and  it  cares  for  their  eternai 
salvation.  Its  main  object  is  to  wean  them  from  the 
service  of  sin,  and  to  engage  them  in  the  service  of 
God.  And  while  for  this  purpose,  it  studies  to  separate 
them  from  the  temptations  to  profusion  and  intemper- 
ance and  idleness,  to  which  they  might  otherwise  be  too 
much  exposed,  and  by  which  they  might  otherwise  be 
too  easily  overcome,  it  strikes  at  the  very  root  of  all 
the  mischiefs  that  beset  their  lot  and  surround  their 
path,  by  a  moral  machinery  which  provides  them  with 
saving  knowledge,  which  goes  to  penetrate  their  hearts, 
and  to  imbue  them  with  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  which  teaches,  and  encourages,  and  stimu- 
lates diem  to  seek  for  their  happiness  in  the  favor  of 
God,  in  the  exercises  of  piety,  in  the  practice  of  holi- 
ness, in  the  hope  of  heaven  and  immortality.  I  could 
dilate  with  pleasure  on  its  various  means  of  elevating 
their  character,  and  improving  their  condition — means 
which  were  wont  to  be  thought  of  with  indifference,  or 
treated  as  the  subjects  of  wonder,  of  merriment,  or  of 


178  THE  christian's  choice.  ser.  6. 

idle  pity.  I  could  tell  you  of  the  tracts  which  it  circu- 
lates— of  the  Bibles  which  it  distributes — of  the  edu- 
cation which  it  imparls — of  the  ordinances  which  it  ad- 
ministers— of  the  visits  of  Christian  love  which  it  pays 
— of  the  numberless  offices  of  kindness  by  which  it  en- 
lightens, and  comforts,  and  animates  the  objects  of  its 
constant  solicitude.  But  I  need  not  occupy  your  time  in 
such  discussions.  You  are  already  acquainted  with  the 
character  and  merits  of  this  establishment.  Its  directors 
deserve  every  degree  of  confidence  you  can  repose  in 
them.  Its  funds  need  to  be  replenished  by  the  bounty 
of  a  generous  and  Christian  public.  Its  prosperity 
will,  in  some  good  measure,  depend  upon  the  supply 
which  it  this  evening  receives  from  the  audience  that  I 
now  address.  It  throws  itself  upon  your  charity.  And 
I  am  sure  you  will  not  willingly  mar  its  usefulness,  or 
disappoint  its  expectations,  by  withholding  what  the 
providence  of  that  God  whom  you  and  it  are  united  in 
serving,  has  enabled  you  to  bestow.  O  think  of  the 
seaman,  embarked  upon  the  dangerous  deep — exposed 
to  the  furious  tempest,  or  to  the  unwholesome  climate, 
or  to  the  thousand  perils  which  surround  him  in  his 
adventurous  course.  If,  by  the  protection  of  Him  who 
rules  over  all,  he  escape  these  multiplied  hazards,  and 
come  back  in  safety  to  his  native  shore  and  his  beloved 
home,  what  a  blessing  for  him  to  find,  that,  while  he 
himself  has  gone  and  returned  in  the  faith  of  that 
Saviour  in  whom  he  has  been  taught  to  believe,  and  in 
a  dependance  upon  that  Almighty  arm  on  which  his 
once  godless  soul  has  been  taught  to  lean  for  guidance 
and  protection,  his  wife  and  his  little  ones  have  been 
learning  the  same  lessons,  and  practising  the  same  vir- 
tues, and  enjoying  the  same  peace.  And  if  he  be  fated 
never  more  to  revisit  that  domestic  circle  which  he  left 
in  sorrow  and  in  hope,  and  with  all  the  yearnings  which 
are  known  only  1o  the  heart  of  a  seaman-husband  and 
a  seaman-father;  if  it  be  the  will  of  that  God  whom  he 
loves  and  serves,  that  he  should  be  the  victim  of  a  fatal 


SER.  6.  THE    christian's    CHOICE.  179 

shipwreck — the  vessel  his  coffin,  and  the  ocean  his 
grave — O  what  a  precious  consolation  to  him  to  recol- 
lect, as  he  sinks  in  the  remorseless  waters,  that  he  does 
not  leave  his  widow  disconsolate,  nor  his  orphans  un- 
protected— that  they  are  in  the  hands  of  Christians, 
who  love  their  souls,  and  will  not  abandon  them  to  ig- 
norance, oppression,  or  destitution — and  that  he  is  going 
to  that  blessed  and  peaceful  region,  for  whose  mansions 
they  also  are  training,  and  amidst  whose  blessedness 
they  and  he  shall  meet  again,  and  dwell,  and  rejoice 
forever ! 


SERMON    VIL 


CHRISTIAX    BENEFICENCE. 

MATTHEW  XXV.  35,  last  clause. 

^^Iwas  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in" 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  people  who  not  only  build 
their  hopes  of  salvation  upon  their  own  personal  righteoufs- 
ness,  but  who  even  restrict  that  righteousness,  as  the  foun- 
dation of  their  hopes,  to  acts  of  benevolence.  And  when 
we  remonstrate  with  them  on  the  presumptuousness,  and 
the  danger,  of  such  an  idea,  they  quote,  in  support  of 
it,  the  passage  of  which  my  text  forms  a  part,  and  ask 
triumphantly  whether  it  be  not  a  clear  and  irrefragable 
proof,  that,  if  we  abound  in  deeds  of  kindness  to  the 
poor,  the  afflicted,  and  the  oppressed,  we  shall  have 
boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

Now,  to  those  by  whom  such  a  sentiment  is,  in  any 
degree,  maintained,  I  would  address  a  few  remarks, 
tending  to  show  that  it  is  altogether  without  countenance 
or  sanction  from  the  word  of  God. 

In  scripture,  it  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  annex 
the  attainment  of  future  happiness  to  the  exercise  of  a 
particular  grace.     Of  this  fact  I  could  give  you  a  mul- 

•  Preached  in  St.  George's  Church,  Edinburgh,  18th  December,  1828, 
when  a  collection  was  made  in  behalf  of  the  Spanish  and  Italian  Refugees, 
at  the  request  of  the  Lord  Provost  and  Magistrates. 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  181 

titude  of  examples,  were  it  necessary.  But  if  the  opin- 
ion I  am  supposing  you  to  entertain  be  correct,  as  to 
almsgiving,  it  must  be  equally  correct  as  to  all  the  other 
graces  of  Christianity,  which  are  placed  in  a  similar 
connexion.  Why  fix  upon  this,  and  neglect  the  others, 
since  they  and  it  have  the  same  common  authority  ? 
For  what  good  reason  should  not  any  one  of  these  be 
the  ground  of  expectation  and  assurance,  as  well  as 
that  which  you  have  particularly  selected  for  the  pur- 
pose ?  If  you  are  to  obtain  a  sentence  of  acquittal,  in 
consequence  of  being  beneficent  to  the  needy  and  the 
wretched,  why  may  not  a  sentence  of  acquittal,  result 
as  well  and  as  certainly  from  your  godliness,  or  your  hu- 
mility, or  your  justice,  or  your  patience,  or  your  purity, 
or  any  other  single  feature  of  the  Christian  character  ? 

The  truth  is,  that  the  scriptural  statement,  when  cor- 
rectly apprehended,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  itself, 
and  is  founded  in  the  very  nature  and  reason  of  the 
thing.  It  does  not  mean,  that,  if  you  have  any  partic- 
ular virtue,  and  no  other,  you  shall  be  admitted  into 
heaven  ;  for,  truly,  the  possession  of  but  one  insulated 
virtue  will  appear  to  us  impossible,  if  our  ideas  of  holi- 
ness be  taken  from  the  gospel.  According  to  the  gos- 
pel scheme  of  morality,  every  genuine  virtue  must  be 
the  fruit  of  a  regenerated  heart,  and  must  be  practised 
under  the  influence  of  right  principles  and  motives. 
But  if  the  heart  be  indeed  regenerated,  and  if  the  con- 
duct be  indeed  governed  by  right  principles  and  rao 
tives,  then  there  will  be  a  cordial  disposition,  and  a 
habitual  endeavor,  to  obey  the  will  of  God  in  every 
thing.  And,  on  this  account,  whenever  a  particular 
virtue  has  the  promise  of  eternal  happiness  attached  to 
it,  we  are  to  regard  it  as  co-existing  with  all  its  kindred 
virtues,  though  they  be  not  specifically  stated,  and  as, 
in  fact,  the  representative  of  the  whole  character,  though 
it  be  not  mentioned  as  holding  that  station.  If,  there- 
fore, any  one  build  his  prospects  of  future  blessedness 
on  his  alms-deeds,  we  say  to  him,  in  strict  conformity 
to  his  own  general  principle,  "  It  is  true  you  abound  in 
IG 


182  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

alms-deeds,  but  if  you  are  sincere  in  this  duty,  as  en- 
joined   by  God's  will,  you   cannot  fail  to  be  diligent  in 
the  discharge  of  all  other  duties.     A  pure  fountain  can- 
not send  out  a  transparent  stream   on   one   side,  and  a 
polluted  stream  on  the  other.     If  the  heart  be  changed, 
and   sanctified,   and   swayed  by  a   holy  influence,  this 
influence  will  work  its  proper  effects  in  every  depart- 
ment of  the  life.     And,  we  ask  you,  are  you  spiritually 
minded — are  you  clothed  with  humility — are  you  just 
in  your  dealings — are  you  patient  under  trials  and  pro- 
vocations— are  you  devoted  to  God  ?     If  you   are  not 
characterised  by  these   things,  as  well   as  by  that,  of 
which  you  boast  so  much,  and  in   which  you  trust  so 
securely,  then  you  can  no  more   look  for  heaven,  than 
the  man    who   strictly  observes    the    eighth  command- 
ment, but  disregards  every  other  part  of  the  decalogue." 
Even  all  the  moral  virtues  together,  will  not  answer 
the  purpose  for  which  so  many  seem  to  think  almsgiving 
exclusively  sufl!icient;    for,   if  condemnation    and  ac- 
quittal are  severally  allied  to  the  possession  and   to  the 
want  of  these,  the  very  same  thing  may  be  said  of  faith. 
Of  faith,  scripture  speaks  thus  :  "  Ke  that  believeth  on 
the   Son  of  God   is  not  condemned ;  but  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not,  is  condemned   already."     Christ,  we   are 
told,  will  come  at  the  last  day,  to  be  "  glorified   in  his 
saints,  and   admired  of  all  them   that  believe."     And 
then  his  people   shall  "  receive  the  end   of  their  faith, 
even  the  salvation  of  their  souls."     Now,  why  may  not 
we  assume  for  fiiith,  that  very  place,  to  v.hich  some  ad- 
vance the  practice  of  the  moralities  and  charities  of  life, 
as  to  its  effect  upon  our  future  destiny  ?     There  is  just 
as  much  scriptural  warrant  for  putting  the  one,  as  there 
is  for  putting  the  other,  into    that   connexion.     And, 
were  we  to  adopt  the   same  line  of  argument  in   both 
cases,  it  would  be  at  least  as  idle  to  censure  those  who 
rest  their    hopes    for  judgment    upon    "  faith    without 
works,"  as  it  would   be  to   censure  those  who   depend 
upon  "  works  without  faith."     That  such  notions  should 
be  held  and  acted  upon  by  either,  is  a  proof  that  they 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  183 

have  not  considered  the  scripture  doctrine  on  this  sub- 
ject, or  that  they  have  not  understood  it. 

The  great  and  distinguishing  character  of  the  gospel 
is,  that  it  is   a  message  of  grace   to   sinful   and   ruined 
man — a  method  of  redemption,  devised  for  creatures 
who  cannot  redeem  themselves — a  plan  of  restoration, 
for  the   benefit  of  those  who,  by  transgressing  the  law 
of  God,  have    incurred  its  penalty,  and   who  have  no 
ability  in  themselves  either  to  atone  for  what  is  past,  or 
rightly  and  acceptably  to  obey  for  the  future.     To  sup- 
ply these  radical   defects   in  our  spiritual    condition,  a 
Saviour  is  revealed  who  is  mighty  to  deUver  us.     And 
how  do  we  become  interested  in  the  benefit  resulting 
from  his  interposition  ?     Not,  surely,  by  works  ;  for  the 
insufficiency  of  our  own   doings  to  obtain  justification 
before  God,  is  the  very  reason  why  a  divine  Saviour  is 
necessary,  and  why  a  divine  Saviour  is  sent.     But,  ac- 
cording to  the  express  language  of  the  Bible,  it  is  "  by 
faith."     Christ  is  "  set  forth    as  a  propitiation  for  our 
sins,  through  faith   in  his  blood."     He   is   "  the  end  of 
the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth." 
"To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed 
in  his  name."     "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  sent 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,   but   might    have    everlasting   life." 
Faith,  then,   is    the   only   medium  through   which  the 
Saviour    and    the    blessings   of  his    salvation   can  be- 
come ours. 

But,  if  it  be  aslced,  whether,  consistently  with  this 
statement,  our  good  deeds  be  essential  to  our  appearing 
before  God  in  judgment,  we  answer,  certainly  they  are. 
For,  though  we  are  not  under  the  law  as  a  covenant  of 
works,  we  are  still  under  it  as  a  rule  of  conduct.  And 
obedience  to  it  is  still  requisite,  not  merely  in  submis- 
sion to  the  Supreme  will,  but  as  a  test  and  evidence  of 
our  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  as  a  qualification  for 
the  happiness  of  heaven.  And  we  are  to  be  judged 
"  according  to  our  works,"  because  this  accords  most 


184  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

with  the  nature  of  a  general  judgment — the  practical 
effects  of  dispositions  and  feelings  being  more  tangible 
and  obvious,  than  the  dispositions  and  feelings  them- 
selves 5  and  because,  if  the  general  course  of  our  life 
has  been  evil,  this  will  show  not  only  that  we  have 
sinned,  but  that  we  have  also  perversely  refused  to  re- 
pent, and  to  accept  of  a  Saviour  5  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  the  general  course  of  our  life  has  been  good,  it 
will  show  that  our  rebellion  has  been  succeeded  by 
penitence  and  faith  ;  and,  moreover,  because  our  deeds 
being  good  or  evil,  will  demonstrate  our  fitness  for  that 
place  of  happiness,  or  of  misery,  into  which  the  sen- 
tence of  our  Judge  shall  send  us,  and  exhibit  the  fullest 
proof,  which  assembled  myriads  can  require,  that  all 
his  swards,  of  suffering,  and  of  blessedness,  are  the 
dictates  of  infinite  mercy  and  unimpeachable  justice. 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  parcpivp  why  charity  has  been 
selected,  as  that  branch  of  moral  excellence  upon 
which  the  Judge  will  ostensibly  found  his  final  decree. 
Charity  is  the  fruit  of  love  to  God,  and  is  "shed  abroad 
in  the  heart  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  is 
of  the  operation  of  true  faith,  and  gives  the  most  satis- 
fying evidence  of  its  reality  and  its  power.  "  [t  is  the 
bond  of  perfectness  and  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  "  Such 
being  its  high  importance  in  the  code  of  Christian  mo- 
rality, w^e  cannot  wonder  at  the  distinguished  honor 
that  is  to  be  put  upon  it  in  the  day  of  judgment.  And, 
besides,  while  justice,  in  all  its  forms,  may  be  easily 
defined,  and  can  be  enforced  by  the  authority  and 
sanction  of  human  laws,  charity  is  of  such  a  nature  as 
not  to  be  amenable  to  human  jurisdiction  ;  it  must  be 
left,  in  its  variety  of  exercise  and  extent,  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  individuals  by  whom  it  is  practised  ;  and, 
consequently,  wherever  it  truly  and  abundantly  resides, 
it  testifies,  better  than  any  other  virtue  can  do,  the  ex- 
istence, the  strength,  and  the  dominion,  of  those  great 
Christian  principJes,  from  which  alone  it  can  emanate, 
and  by  which  alone  it  can  be  supported. 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  185 

With  the  same  ease  we  can  account  for  singling  out  those 
particular  expressions  of  charity  which  are  here  speci- 
fied. We  have  already  observed,  that  when  any  virtue 
is  brought  forward  as  terminating  in  everlasting  life,  it 
must  be  understood  to  be  practised  in  its  genuine  nature, 
ahd  full  latitude ;  and  whenever  it  is  so  practised,  it  is 
of  course  accompanied  by  every  other  virtue.  And, 
this  being  the  case,  any  one  virtue  will  substantially  an- 
swer the  purpose  as  well  as  another.  But  as,  for  the 
reasons  we  have  assigned,  there  is  a  peculiar  propriety 
in  fixing  upon  the  grace  of  charity,  in  general,  so  there 
appears  to  be  a  peculiar  propriety  also  in  fixing  upon 
those  instances  of  it,  in  particular,  which  are  here  ad- 
duced ;  because  the  occasions  of  them  are  of  every 
day's  and  every  hour's  occurrence  ;  they  have  nothing 
of  the  splendid  or  the  magnificent  to  recommend  them  ; 
they  are  the  minute  offices  of  kindness  to  the  destitute 
and  the  distressed  which  do  not  make  a  figure  in  the 
eye  of  the  world,  but  are  continually  called  for;  they 
are  demanded  by  the  feelings  of  common  humanity,  as 
well  as  by  the  sentiments  of  Christian  compassion;  and 
he  who  neglects  them  has,  beyond  all  controversy,  no 
pretension  to  moral  excellence,  while  he  who  performs 
them  with  the  tenderness,  the  activity,  the  diligence,  the 
minuteness,  which  are  here  so  pathetically  described, 
affords  a  demonstration  that  he  has  the  faith  of  the  gos- 
pel, for  "  it  worketh  by  love,"  and  thus  "  loving  his 
brethren  whom  he  hath  seen,"  we  conclude,  and  are 
satisfied,  that  he  also  "loveth  God  whom  he  hath  not 
seen ;"  and  therefore  is  rmet  for  the  services,  and  the 
enjoyments  of  that  better  state  in  which  his  Judge  shall 
assign  him  his  everlasting  portion. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  stated  as  an  additional  reason  for 
our  Saviour's  choosing  these  modes  of  charity,  as  his 
example,  that  they  are  precisely  such  as  the  exigencies 
of  his  followers  would  peculiarly  require.  Of  them, 
and  of  their  circumstances,  he  never  failed  to  think  with 
the  kindliest  interest,  and  the  warmest  affection.  He 
was  aware  of  the  hardships  and  persecutions  to  which 
*16 


186  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

they  were  to  be  subjected,  after  bis  departure.  He 
knew  that  hunger,  and  nakedness,  and  imprisonment, 
and  sickness,  were  to  be  the  evils  of  their  lot,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  labors  in  his  cause.  Amidst  such  dis- 
tresses as  these,  they  would  stand  in  the  utmost  need  of 
sympathy  and  assistance.  And  the  exercise  of  such 
sympathy,  and  the  communication  of  such  assistance, 
would  be  duties  of  imperative  obligation  upon  all  who 
are  capable  of  feeling  the  one,  or  of  rendering  the  other. 
So  that,  having  these  thoughts  fully  in  his  view,  and 
strongly  impressed  upon  his  mind,  it  is  neither  an  im- 
probable supposition,  nor  a  refined  speculation,  that  he 
allowed  them  to  mingle  m  the  account  he  was  giving  of 
the  final  judgment,  and  to  influence,  in  one  important 
particular,  his  delineation  of  that  eventful  scene.  But 
though  he  may  have  had  the  treatment  of  his  suffering 
disciples  more  immediately  in  his  eye,  yet  the  principle 
is  of  universal  application,  and  embraces  charitable  con- 
duct, in  whatever  circumstances  it  may  be  required, 
and  by  whomsoever  it  may  be  maintained. 

Let  me  now  say  a  few  words  on  the  importance  and 
necessity  of  the  charity  which  is  here  spoken  of. 

A  great  deal  of  emphasis  is  laid  upon  it  throughout 
the  whole  of  Scripture.  We  cannot  read  almost  a  page  of 
the  sacred  volume,  without  finding  it  inculcated  in  some 
form  or  other.  And,  indeed,  so  thoroughly  imbued  with 
it  is  the  whole  system  of  our  faith,  that  every  one,  who 
breathes  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  breathes  also  the  spirit 
of  charity.  The  doctrines  of  the  gospel  constrain  us — 
its  precepts  teach  us — its  examples  encourage  us — its 
promises  animate  us — to  practise  it.  And,  that  nothing 
may  be  wanting  to  make  us  cherish  it,  as  a  constituent 
a  prominent,  a  conspicuous,  part  'of  our  character,  our 
Saviour  brings  it  forward  in  his  description  of  the  last 
day,  as  the  great  and  decisive  test  of  our  meetness  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  If  we  have  it,  we  shall  re- 
ceive a  sentence  of  acquittal,  and  be  admitted  into  the 
joys  and  the  glories  of  immortality.  If  we  be  destitute 
of  it,  we  shall  receive  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  and 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  187 

be  consigned  to  the  regions  of  misery  and  despair. 
Think,  my  friends,  of  the  extent  of  your  demerit,  if  you 
go  before  the  tribunal  of  God  without  it,  that  you  may 
see  how  indispensably  requisite  it  is  to  your  safety  and 
welfare.  This  demerit  does  not  consist  merely  in  your 
having  shut  your  heart,  and  your  hand,  against  the  cry 
of  the  needy.  That,  of  itself,  w'ould  be  sufficient  to 
place  you  on  the  left  hand  of  your  Judge,  because  it 
would  have  been  the  violation  of  an  explicit  command- 
ment of  the  law  of  God.  But  it  arises  from  the  total 
absence  of  Christian  principle  and  Christian  sentiment, 
and  the  general  and  abiding  depravity  of  mind,  which 
indifference  to  the  wants  and  the  wretchedness  of  our 
poor  brethren  invariably  indicates.  From  wiiat  we  have 
already  said,  and  from  what  you  know,  of  the  maxims 
and  declarations  of  scripture,  think  you,  that  while  har- 
boring such  indifference,  you  can  possibly  have  that 
"  faith"  in  the  Redeemer  by  which  sinners  are  justified 
and  saved  ? — that  there  dwelleth  in  you  the  love  of  God, 
whom  you  are  bound  to  "love  w^ith  all  your  heart'' — 
that  you  are  under  the  direction  and  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  whose  "  fruit  is  in  all  goodness,"  and  whose 
sanctifying  grace  is  necessary  (o  prepare  you  for  heaven  ? 
Think  you,  that  any  of  the  other  excellencies  of  the 
Christian  life  adorn  you,  since  they  all  spring  from  the 
same  source,  and  are  all  held  together  by  the  same  bond 
of  union  ?  Think  you,  that  you  can  have  been  "  re- 
new^ed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind,"  when  you  liave  not 
"put  on  bowels  of  mercies,"  and  are  still  nourishing  the 
hard-heartedness,  and  walking  in  the  selfish  ways,  of 
the  natural  man  ?  Think  you,  that  you  have  any  thing 
about  you  of  the  temper  and  character  of  your  divine 
Master,  whose  example  is  left  for  your  imitation,  and  of 
whom  it  is  truly  said  that  "he  went  about  doing  good?" 
Think  you,  that  you  are  qualified  for  associating  with 
"  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,"  and  for  uniting 
with  them  in  the  pursuits  and  the  enjoyments  of  that 
happy  place,  where  "charity  never  faileth  ?"  And 
think  you,  that  you   are  fit  for  appearing  before  Christ 


188  CHRISTIAN   BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

in  judgment,  when  you  have  cherished  this  hard  and 
unfeehng  temper,  in  spite  not  only  of  his  grace  leading 
him,  "  though  he  was  rich,  to  become  poor,  that  ye 
through  his  poverty  miglit  be  rich,"  but  in  defiance  of 
the  solemn  w^arning  which  he  gives,  that,  with  regard  to 
this  very  thing,  he  will  call  you  to  a  ^rict  and  particular 
reckoning  at  the  last  day,  and  that  he  will  reward  or 
punish  you,  according  as  you  are  found  to  have  observed 
or  neglected  the  great  duty  of  charity  to  the  poor  and 
the  afflicted. 

Ah,  my  friends,  it  is  no  ordinary  guilt  that  will  attach 
to  you,  if  you  have  been  wanting  in  this  respect.  Just 
observe  what  an  interest  the  Saviour  takes  in  it.  He 
identifies  himself  with  his  suffering  and  indigent  follow- 
ers ;  and  the  good  and  evil  which  are  done  to  them,  he 
will  regard  and  recompense  as  done  to  himself.  "In- 
asmuch as  ye  did  it  to  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  did  it  unto  me."  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  these 
my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me."  I  mention  this, 
not  to  show  the  infinite  condescension  of  Christ,  (though 
such  condescension  may  well  shame  the  proud  despisers 
of  the  poor,  by  demonstrating,  how  unlike  they  are  to 
the  Master  whom  they  profess  to  serve,)  but  to  point  out 
the  aggravations  of  such  misconduct,  the  guilt  of  those 
who  commit  it,  arising  not  merely  from  their  treatment 
of  the  poor,  but  fvom  their  treatment  of  Him,  who  is  the 
Saviour  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  together;  for  the  doctrine 
of  this  passage  plainly  is,  that  if  you  withhold  your  hand 
from  giving  to  them  who  are  in  need,  and  from  reliev- 
ing them  who  are  in  distress,  every  pang  you  inflict  by 
your  neglect,  or  by  your  cruelty,  even  upon  the  lowest 
of  your  fellow-creatures,  }Gu  virtually  inflict  upon  the 
Redeemer  and  the  Judge  ^/tLe  world  :  he  feels  it  as  a 
personal  injury — It  amouLcj  to  a  practical  rejection  of 
liim,  and  he  will  mark  it  as  such,  when  he  reckons  with 
you  at  the  last,  and  pronounces  your  final  doom. 

But  perhaps,  while  thus  enforcing  charity,  I  shall  be 
told,  that  want  of  charity  is  not  characteristic  of  the  times 
or  of  the  place,  in  which  we  live,  and  that  exhortations  to 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  189 

almsglvino;  are,  at  the  very  least,  superfluous.  I  acknowl- 
edge,with  unfeigned  pleasure,  the  liberality  which  prevails 
among  all  classes  of  the  people  ;  and  I  am  confident, 
that  in  your  contributions  this  day,  we  shall  have  an  addi- 
tional proof  of  it,  at  once  substantial  and  gratifying. 
But  among  the  most  humane,  there  will  always  be  found 
some  to  mingle,  in  whose  breasts  and  conduct  it  is  too 
much  a  stranger,  and  who  need  to  be  roused  to  a  sense 
even  of  this  duty,  the  most  obvious,  perhaps,  of  all  the 
duties  incumbent  on  the  followers  of  Christ.  The  very 
circumstance  of  charity  being  so  prevalent  is  not  unlikely 
to  be  employed  as  a  pretext  for  disregarding  the  claims 
of  the  needy,  by  those  who  give,  without  any  distinct 
conception,  or  any  lively  feeling,  of  their  obligations  to 
cultivate  that  grace.  And  besides,  the  most  established 
and  experienced  Christians  need  to  be  reminded  from 
time  to  time  of  the  grounds  and  motives  of  a  duty,  to 
violate  which  there  are  so  many  temptations  in  the  nat- 
ural selfishness  of  the  human  heart,  in  the  incessant 
tendency  that  we  all  feel  to  pursue  our  own  interests, 
and  to  seek  our  own  gratifications,  widiout  regard  to 
the  interests  and  gratifications  of  others ;  in  those  party 
jealousies  and  religious  prejudices  which  too  fre- 
quently arrest  the  current  of  beneficence;  and  some- 
times in  the  failings,  and  vices,  and  ingratitude  of  the 
individuals  who  have  been  the  largest  participators  of 
our  bounty. 

But  there  is  something  more  important  still  to  be  sta- 
ted. I  am  speaking,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  such  as 
need  your  help,  but  for  your  own  sake,  and  with  a  view 
to  the  improvement  of  your  personal  character,  and  to 
your  fitness  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  God.  And  for  this 
purpose,  let  me  remind  you  that  it  is  not  enough  that 
you  give,  however  liberally,  to  your  necessitous  breth- 
ren. By  all  means  do  this,  for  without  it,  you  can  have 
no  just  pretensions  to  charity  at  all.  But  remember, 
that  you  have  to  do  with  God,  much  more  than  you 
have  to  do  with  man.  Man  receives  your  bounty,  and 
he  is  benefited  and  relieved  by  it,  whether  you  have 


190  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

bestowed   it  from  worthy  or  unworthy  considerations. 
But  God  sees  the  heart,  and  will  accept  of  no  service 
which  does  not  proceed  from  that  source,  and  which  is 
not  regulated   by  those  views  and  principles  which   he 
himself  has    prescribed.     And,  we   insist  on   this  the 
more,  because  we  are  referring  to  the   account  you  are 
hereafter  to  render.     Important,  indeed,  and  indispen- 
sable  is  the  virtue  of  almsgiving;  but  important  and 
indispensable  though  it  be,  that  will  not  secure   for  it 
the  divine  approbation,  nor  render  it  a  quahfication  for 
the  heavenly  state,  in  whatever  form  and  spirit  you  may 
choose  to  exercise  it.     In  the  day  of  judgment,  indeed, 
our  sentence  will   be  founded  on  the  character  of  our 
works,   as  good   or   bad,    and    particularly    upon  that 
branch  of  moral  conduct  which  is  here  specified.     But 
then,  it  will  be  upon  our  works  as   connected  with   our 
inward  views  and  dispositions.     As   every  secret  deed 
will  be  brought  to  light,  and  form  a  part  of  the  account 
we  have  to  render,  so  will  every  secret  thought  be  made 
manifest — every  principle  upon  which  we  proceeded — 
every  motive  by  which  we  were  actuated — every  feel- 
ing and  view  which  had  any  share  in  the  government 
of  our  life  and  conversation.     And  upon  these,  much 
more  than  upon  the  external  aspect,  or  literal  meaning, 
or  natural  effects  of  our  actions  themselves,  the  fate  of 
every  one  of  us  will  then  depend  ;  so  that  if  our  kind- 
ness to  the  poor  has  originated   in  nothing  better  than  a 
desire  to  relieve  our  own  feelings,  by  getting  rid  of  their 
importunity,  or  in  a  thirst  for  a  good  reputation  amiong 
our  fellow-men,  or  in  the  vain  project  of  bartei'ing  our 
money  for   the  kingdom   of  heaven,  as   if  benevolence 
were  the  price  of  immortality,  or  in  any  other  mistaken 
or  corrupt  sentiment   whatsoever — upon  what  principle, 
I  would  ask,  either  of  reason   or  of  scripture,  can   we 
expect  to   be  pronounced  "  the   blessed  of  the   Lord," 
and  to   be  invited   to  "the   inheritance  of  a  kingdom 
prepared  for  us  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ?"  The 
hope  of  the  formalist,  of  die  hypocrite,  of  the  unsancti- 
fied  almsgiver,  may  accompany  him  through  life,  and 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  191 

go  down  with  him  to  the  grave,  but  when  he  appears 
before  the  omniscient  God,  who  searches  the  heart,  and 
judges  righteous  judgment,  it  perishes  forever.  Let  us 
be  careful,  then,  that  we  have  the  spirit,  as  well  as  the 
practise  of  charit}^ — that  we  give  with  a  willing  mind  as 
well  as  with  a  courteous  hand — that  every  benevolent 
deed  we  perform  be  the  fruit  of  a  lively  faith,  and  thus 
contribute  its  part  to  that  holy  character  which  God 
requires  us  to  maintain,  and  which  will  fit  us  for  judg- 
ment and  eternity. 

I  have  still  to  add,  that  the  charity  to  which  so  much 
importance  is  attached,  and  which  is  held  to  be  so  abso- 
lutely requisite,  with  a  view  to   future  judgment,  is  dis- 
tinguished by  its  unwearied   activity,  and  the   constant 
and  minute  adaptation  of  its  cares  to  the  various  neces- 
sities of  those  whom  it  endeavors  to  relieve*     It  is  not 
enough  to  cherish  compassionate  feelings — to  utter  the 
language  of  sensibility  and  tenderness  when  we  speak  of 
the  children  of  suffering  and  of  sorrow — to  address  to 
them  the   common-places  of  sympathy,  and   say,  "be 
ye  warmed  and  be  ye  filled."     We  must  communicate 
to  them  according  to  their  need,  and  study  to  be  substan- 
tially useful.     It  is  not  enough,  that  we  bestow  money 
upon  those  who  need  our  aid,  and  who  ask  it,  or  that  we 
confine   ourselves  to  one  species  of  benevolence,  when 
it  is  in  our  power  to  indulge  in  many.     We  must  "  do 
good  as  we  have  opportunity ;"  we  must  "  give  alms  of 
such  things  as  we  have  ;"  and  when  we  are  obliged  to 
say  to  the   poor  supplicant  "  silver   and   gold   have  I 
none,"  we  must  be  ready  to  add,  "  but  such  as  I  have, 
give  I  unto  thee."     It  is  not  enou2;h  that  we  minister  of 
our  substance  to  the  destitute.     We  must  not  withhold 
our  personal  exertions,  nor  grudge  our  time,  when  these 
are  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  labor  of  love  :  We 
must  "  search  out  the  cause  that  we  know  not ;"  and 
*'  go  about  doing  good."     Nor  is  it  enough,  that  we  be 
kind  and  helpful  to  those  of  our  own  kindred,  or  of  our 
own  sect,  or  of  our  own  neighborhood.     We  must  listen 
to  the  cry  of  nature,  and  to  the  admonition  of  the  gos- 


192  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

pel,  inbehalf  of  all  who  stand  in  need  of  our  beneficence  ; 
extending  it  to  the  stranger  who  is  cast  upon  our  care, 
from  whatever  country  he  may  come,  and  whatever 
form  of  worship  he  may  have  embraced,  and  even  to 
those  who,  yielding  to  temptations  from  which  we  have 
been  providentially  delivered,  have  become  the  victims 
of  their  own  folly,  and  are  thereby  involved  in  misfor- 
tune and  penury  ;  for  God  "  has  made  of  one  blood  all 
the  nations  that  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,"  and 
he  "  causeth  his  sun  to  shine  upon  the  evil  and  the  good, 
and  his  rain  to  descend  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust." 
All  these  things  are  comprehended  in  the  language 
which  the  Judge  will  hold  to  the  righteous,  and  should 
determine  us  to  be  active,  and  disinterested,  and  gen- 
erous, and  unwearied,  in  promoting  the  relief  of  our 
poor  afflicted  brethren.  "I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye 
gave  me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink ; 
I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in." 

"The  Lord,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "  preserveth  the 
stranger."  This  has  been  his  memorial  in  all  genera- 
tions. The  stranger  has  ever  been  the  object  of  his 
peculiar  care,  watched  over  by  his  providence, — pro- 
tected by  his  law,  privileged  by  his  mercy,  recommend- 
ed and  committed  to  the  hospitality  of  his  people. 
Under  the  Mosaic  economy,  strangers  had  particular  im- 
munities granted  to  them.  The  Jews  were  enjoined,  by 
special  commandments,  to  show  them  kindness.  Divine 
indignation  was  denounced  against  such  as  should  treat 
them  with  cruelty  or  subject  them  to  oppression.  And, 
divine  appeals  were  repeatedly  made,  to  the  sympathies 
of  those  among  whom  they  dwelt,  reminding  them  of 
the  hardships  and  severities  which  they  themselves  had 
experienced  in  a  foreign  land. 

This  minute  guardianship  of  the  stranger  w^as  the 
more  necessary  among  the  Jews,  because  they  were 
chosen  and  separated  from  the  rest  of  mankind ;  the 
arrangements  of  that  polity  under  which  they  were 
placed,  were  unavoidably  of  an  exclusive  character; 
and  the  natural  tendency  of  the  whole  system  was   to 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  193 

render  them  reserved,  and  jealous,  and  illiberal,  towards 
all  who  did  not  belong  to  their  commonwealth.  God, 
in  his  wisdom  and  in  his  mercy,  did  much  to  counter- 
act this  sjjirit,  by  the  declarations  and  the  provisions  to 
which  I  have  alluded.  But  he  did  not  neglect  the 
safety  and  the  comfort  of  the  5tranger,nor  leave  him  with- 
out a  token  of  his  compassionate  concern,  even  after  the 
free  and  generous  dispensation  of  the  gospel  was  intro- 
duced. "  The  middle  wall  of  partition  being  broken 
down"  between  Jew  and  Gentile — men  of  every  kindred 
being  invited  to  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the  hope  of  im- 
mortality— and  those  that  accept  of  the  invitation  being 
taught  to  look  on  the  whole  family  of  mankind  with  the 
eye  of  benevolence  and  of  kindliness,  there  was  less  oc- 
casion for  any  authoritative  enactments,  or  any  explicit 
precepts,  in  order  to  preserve  the  stranger  from  injury 
and  contempt,  and  to  secure  for  him  what  the  helpless- 
ness of  his  circumstances  might  require.  Yet,  even 
thus  favorably  situated,  we  find  him  selected  and 
marked  out  as  an  object  of  Christian  regard.  Not 
only  does  he  share  in  those  common  sympathies,  which 
we  are  taught  to  feel  towards  all  our  fellow-men,  and 
practically  to  manifest,  by  an  adaptation  of  our  treat- 
ment to  their  various  necessities  ;  but  he  is  particularly 
specified,  and  pressed  on  our  benevolent  attentions, 
lest  he  should  be  overlooked  amidst  the  multiplicity  of 
those  claims  which  are  addressed  to  our  charity,  or  de- 
spised as  an  intermeddler  with  those  bounties  to  which 
our  kinsmen,  our  fellow-citizens,  and  our  compatriots 
have  the  first  and  strongest  title.  In  the  beautiful  and 
affecting  parable  of  the  man  who  went  down  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves,  we  are 
instructed  to  consider  every  man  as  "  our  neighbor" 
however  strange  he  may  be  to  us  as  to  his  country  or 
his  creed,  and  however  obnoxious  to  those  resentments 
which  ancient  rivalships  and  recent  provocations  may 
have  engendered  in  our  minds.  The  precept  given  by 
an  inspired  apostle  is,  that  we  "  be  not  forgetful  to  en- 
tertain strangers :"  in  which  the  combined  influence  of 
17 


194  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

affectionate  exhortation  and  strict  commandment  is  em- 
ployed to  banish  the  suspicions  and  aversions  with 
which  we  might  otherwise  look  on  these  candidates  for 
our  pity  and  our  aid — to  make  us  think  more  of  the 
ties  by  which  a  common  nature  and  a  common  fate 
have  bound  them  to  us,  than  of  the  local  distance  and 
adventitious  differences  which  have  heretofore  separated 
them  from  us — and  to  persuade  us  to  receive  them  with 
such  cordial  feeling,  and  to  treat  them  with  such  disin- 
terested kindness,  as  that,  though  w^e  cannot  charm 
them  with  tlie  blessings  and  enjoyments  of  the  home 
which  they  have  left,  we  may  yet  help  them  in  their 
destitution,  and  cheer  them  in  their  sadness.  And  then 
cur  blessed  Saviour  assumes  to  himself  the  character  of 
a  stranger — enters  into  all  his  loneliness,  and  anxieties 
and  griefs — gives  him  an  identity  of  interests  and  of 
feelings  with  his  own — declares  that  he  will  at  last  re- 
compense the  good,  and  avenge  the  evil,  done  to  him, 
as  if  they  were  done  to  himself — and  thus  invests  him, 
as  it  were,  with  the  sacredness  of  his  own  person,  and 
fences  him  round  with  the  awful  and  affecting  solemni- 
ties of  eternal  judgment.  "I  was  a  stranger^  ^ndi  ye 
took  me  in. — Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me." — "I  was  a 
stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in. — Inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  not  to  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not 
unto  me."  "And  the  wicked  shall  go  aw^ay  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." 

Need  I  say  more,  my  friends,  to  bespeak  your  com- 
passion in  behalf  of  the  stranger,  when  all  the  pleadings 
of  common  humanity  for  him,  are  thus  enforced  upon 
your  hearts  by  the  instructions,  the  authority,  and  the 
example  of  your  God  and  Redeemer  ?  No ;  instead 
of  requiring  farther  argument  or  entreaty,  you  will  only 
wait,  or  seek,  for  cases  in  which  you  may  practically 
indulge  the  compassion  you  have  learnt  to  feel.  And 
one  of  the  most  affecting  and  most  urgent  of  these  cases 
we  this  day  bring  before  you.  The  Spanish  and  Ital- 
ian refugees  are  a  class  of  strangers  for  whom  we  can 


SER.    7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEriCENCE.  195 

confidently  solicit  your  bounty.  They  have  already 
excited  public  sympathy,  and  received  public  aid.  And 
although,  by  the  efforts  of  our  benevolent  countrymen 
in  the  South,  their  wants  have  been  greatly  relieved, 
and  their  sufferings  greatly  alleviated,  yet  their  number 
is  still  so  large,  and  their  situation  still  so  distressful,  antl 
their  prospects  still  so  gloomy  and  discouraging,  that, 
knowing  but  a  half  of  what  they  are  doomed  to  endure, 
you  cannot,  be  your  affections  ever  so  cold,  and  your 
habits  ever  so  parsimonious,  withhold  from  them  your 
commiseration  and  your  alnis. 

Think  of  them  merely  as  poor  strangers.  There  is 
something  melancholy  and  touching  in  the  condition  of 
a  stranger,  even  when  he  is  not  reduced  in  his  worldly 
circumstances,  and  in  no  danger  of  suffering  neglect 
from  those  among  whom  he  sojourns.  But  more  mel- 
ancholy and  touching  by  far  is  his  condition,  when  he 
is  visited  with  the  thousand  ills  of  poverty.  Poverty  by 
itself  is  pitiable ;  but  how  aggravated  are  its  pains,  and 
how  intolerable  its  burden,  when  it  falls  to  the  lot  of  the 
stranger — when  the  two  calamities  are  united  in  dismal 
fellowship — when  the  individual  who  would  have  been 
made  sorrowful  by  either,  is  overwhelmed  by  both ! 
Would  not  you  pity  such  a  man  ? — Pity,  then,  the  ref- 
ugees, whose  cause  I  now  plead,  for  they  are  poor 
strangers. 

But  think  of  them  also  as  strangers,  whose  poverty 
is  the  deeper,  and  the  more  cruel,  in  consideration  of 
the  state  from  which  they  have  fallen.  They  were  not 
previously  accustomed  to  hardship  or  to  indigence, 
which  would  have  made  their  privations  less  keenly 
felt,  and  more  easily  borne.  Sad  and  mournful  is  the 
contrast  between  what  they  were  and  what  they  are, 
which  rises  up  to  their  recollection,  and  presses  itself  on 
their  experience.  They  were  men  of  rank — men  of 
opulence — men  of  authority — men  of  education  and  ac- 
complishment— whose  cup  was  full,  whose  mountain 
stood  strong,  who  were  not  prepared  for  the  bitterness 
of  adversity,  and  never  dreamed  of  coming  ruin.     And 


196  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  7. 

now,  they  have  none  of  the  comforts — they  have  scarcely 
the  necessaries  of  life ;  they  have  not  even  a  roof  to 
shelter  them,  nor  garments  to  clothe  them,  nor  bread  to 
eat,  except  what  is  procured  by  the  small  pittance 
which  they  earn  with  the  sweat  of  their  brow,  or  the 
smaller  pittance  still  which  they  receive  from  the  hand 
of  charity,  that  they,  and  their  wives,  and  their  little 
ones  may  not  perish  for  want.  And  when  you  thus 
contemplate  their  fate — and  when  you  look  at  it,  and 
see  it  in  the  light  of  their  former  prosperity, — is  it  pos- 
sible that  your  souls  should  not  besoltened  and  melted 
into  pity,  and  that,  out  of  your  abundance,  you  should 
not  give  liberally  for  the  relief  of  their  pressing  wants, 
and  for  the  healing  of  their  broken  hearts? 

Think  again  of  the  causes  which  have  sent  them 
among  you,  in  all  the  humiliation  and  misery  of  poor 
fallen  strangers.  They  were  driven  from  their  own 
country.  There  was  neither  comfort  nor  safety  for 
them  there.  The  iron  hand  of  despotism  oppressed 
them.  The  terrors  of  persecution  were  arrayed  against 
them.  The  suspicions  of  the  tyrant  and  the  priest  fell 
upon  them.  And  to  escape  the  degradation,  the  im- 
prisonment, or  the  death  that  awaited  them,  they  be- 
came exiles  from  the  land  that  gave  them  birth,  and 
from  the  scenes  with  which  their  earliest  thoughts  and 
tenderest  feelings  were  associated,  and  fled  for  protec- 
tion to  a  foreign  shore.  And  need  I  say,  that  in  pro- 
portion as  you  detest  the  spirit  which  cannot  brook  one 
sigh  for  freedom,  one  expression  of  liberal  opinion,  one 
effort  to  raise  man  above  the  level  of  a  slave,  by  im- 
parting to  him  the  benefits  of  useful  knowledge  ;  and 
which  is  ever  breathing  out  cruelty  and  slaughter  against 
the  objects  of  its  hate,  because  they  are  the  best  friends, 
and  the  most  zealous  promoters,  of  the  civilization  and 
the  happiness  of  our  race  ;  in  proportion  as  you  detest 
that  intolerant  and  desolating  spirit,  will  you  compas- 
sionate the  poor  fallen  strangers  whose  cause  I  advo- 
cate ;  for  they  are  the  victims  whom  it  has  sacrificed  to 
its  despotic  and  superstitious  lusts,  and  they  are  made 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCII.  197 

wretched  and  cast  upon  your  benevolence,  because  it 
is  rampant,  sanguinary,  and  remorseless  in  its  hostility 
to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  truth. 

And  think,  once  more,  of  the  testimony  which  these 
forlorn  outcasts,  these  destitute  strangers,  have  given  to 
the  character  of  our  country,  by  throwing  themselves 
so  confidently  into  the  arms  of  its  protection.  They 
had  long  been  accustomed  to  admire  its  independence, 
its  valor,  its  generosity,  its  moral  as  well  as  its  political 
greatness  ;  perhaps  in  the  secret  musings  of  their  hearts 
on  that  deliverance  to  which  they  aspired,  and  on  the 
doubtful  issue  of  that  struggle  in  which  they  might  one 
day  engage,  they  turned  their  eye  to  it  as  the  favorer  of 
the  free,  and  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed  :  and  when 
the  hour  of  trial,  and  discomfiture,  and  disappointment 
came,  and  in  their  own  beloved  homes — for  home  is 
dear  even  under  a  tyrant's  sway — they  could  find  no 
shelter  from  the  storm  of  persecution,  and  no  rest  even 
for  the  sole  of  their  foot,  they  came  to  us  at  once  in  the 
fulness  of  their  sorrows,  and  in  the  fulness  of  their  con- 
fidence, and  doubted  not  to  find  their  hopes  realized  in 
the  sufficiency  of  our  guardianship,  in  die  warmth  of 
our  sympathy,  and  in  the  outgoings  of  our  benevolence. 
And  is  it  for  a  moment  to  be  supposed,  that  you  will 
frustrate,  or  mock,  the  expectations  which  they  have  so 
fondly  cherished ;  that  you  will  discourage  or  crush  the 
sentiments  of  reverence  and  affection  with  which  they 
have  regarded  our  nation  ;  that  in  the  apathy  with  which 
you  behold,  or  in  the  niggardliness  with  wliich  you  re- 
lieve their  urgent  necessities,  you  will  send  them  away 
with  the  impression,  that  our  fame  is  greater  than  our 
merit,  and  that,  though  you  have  bread  enough  and  to 
spare,  you  grudge  even  a  morsel  to  those  wiio  have 
come  from  afar,  and  are  hungry  and  distressed,  because 
they  too  fondly  loved  the  distinction  in  which  you  so 
proudly  rejoice?  This  cannot  be  supposed  :  you  will 
not  be  indifferent  to  their  case  ;  you  will  not  be  stinted 
in  your  almsgiving  ;  you  will  not  merely  do  as  much,  or 
2;ive  as  much,  as  may  save  you  from  the  charge  of 
^J7 


198  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  SER.  T. 

cruelty  ;  but  having  your  charity  kindled  into  a  more 
ardent  flame,  by  the  attestation  which  these  poor 
strangers  have  given  to  the  character  of  your  country, 
and  by  the  dependence  which  they  have  so  freely,  and 
so  nobly,  placed  upon  its  virtue  and  its  magnanimity, 
you  will  abound  in  the  labor  of  love  to  which  you  are 
now  called  ;  and  give  "  as  you  have  received  of  the 
Lord." 

"  Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers,"  says  an 
apostle,  "  for  thereby  some  have  entertained  angels  un- 
awares." Expect  not  such  an  event  literally — but  you 
may  expect  the  blessing  which  it  implies.  That  ex- 
pression of  charity  to  which  you  are  now  invited  will  be 
useful  in  many  respects,  on  which,  however,  your  time 
will  not  allow  me  to  expatiate  as  I  could  wish. 

By  engaging  in  it,  you  will  assist  in  improving,  liber- 
alizing, and  exalting  the  national  character — because 
you  give  exercise  to  that  spirit  of  vital  religion,  of  en- 
lightened philanthropy,  and  of  generous  freedom,  in 
which  its  deeds  of  highest  and  purest  worth  originate, 
and  in  which  its  only  true  and  permanent  greatness 
consists. 

You  also  help  to  secure  for  your  country  the  coun- 
tenance and  lavor  of  Him  on  whom  the  stability  of  its 
fortunes,  and  the  growth  of  its  prosperity,  must  ever 
depend  ;  for  as  he  reveals  himself  to  be  the  Preserver 
of  the  stranger,  he  must  smile,  with  approbation,  and 
surround,  with  a  mighty  and  a  gracious  arm,  that  peo- 
ple who  honor  him  by  their  acts  of  beneficence  and 
tenderness  to  that  class  of  his  destitute  offspring  on 
whom  he  has  bestowed  so  signal  an  evidence  of  his 
regard. 

And  you  will  also  add  to  the  reputation  and  influence 
of  your  country — a  reputation,  grounded,  not  on-achieve- 
ments  of  ambitious  and  bloody  heroism,  but  on  deeds 
which  render  man  the  brother,  and  the  friend,  of  man, 
and  which  adorn  communities  as  well  as  individuals, 
with  solid  and  imperishable  honors — influence,  which 
resting  in  the  gratitude  of  those  who  have  experienced, 


SER.  7.  CHRISTIAN    BENEFICENCE.  199 

and  in  the  admiration  of  those  who  have  witnessed, 
what  is  done  for  the  stranger  and  the  exile,  will  be  suc- 
cessfully employed  in  the  spirit  of  that  mighty  and  en- 
larged benevolence  which  secured  it,  for  advancing  the 
interests  of  freedom,  and  civilization,  and  Christianity 
tliroughout  the  world. 

Finally,  you  will  forward  the  improvement  of  your 
own  character,  and  augment  the  happiness  of  your  own 
destiny.  Commiseration  and  kindness  to  strangers  are 
essential  parts  of  your  Christian  vocation.  And,  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  of  practising  these  virtues  you  can 
scarcely  hope  to  enjoy.  Never  omit  an  opportunity  of 
doing  good.  The  duty  is  laid  upon  you — perform  it. 
The  privilege  is  at  your  door — gladly  embrace,  and 
liberally  use  it.  You  may  not  know  the  heart  of  a 
destitute  stranger  in  temporal  things — but  if  you  know 
it  in  spiritual  things,  the  motive  will  be  still  more  pow- 
erful and  constraining.  If  you  know  what  it  is  to  have 
been  once  "  an  alien  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel, 
and  a  stranger  to  the  covenant  of  promise,"  but  to  be 
now  "  a  fellow-citizen  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  house- 
hold of  God,"  you  will  have  a  heart  to  feel,  with  ten- 
derest  sympathy,  for  the  strangers  who  now  solicit  your 
support ;  and  you  will  be  conscious  of  an  irresistible 
impulse  to  do,  for  the  bodies  and  the  outward  comfort 
of  these  poor  ahens  and  exiles,  what  He  has  so  merci- 
fully done  for  your  souls.  And  when  you  put  your 
hand  into  that  store  out  of  which  you  are  to  draw  the 
supply  that  you  intend  for  the  oppressed,  persecuted, 
destitute  refugees,  let  your  faith  look  forward  to  Christ 
as  seated  on  the  throne  of  judgment,  and  listen  to  him, 
as  saying  to  the  righteous,  "I  was  a  stranger  and  ye 
took  me  in.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me.  Enter 
ye  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord." 


SERMON   VIII, 


THE  IMPERFECTIONS  OF   CHRISTIANS  EXAG- 
GERATED BY  THE  ENEMIES  OF 
CHRISTIANITY. 

1  TIMOTHY  vi.  ]. 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed. '^^ 

It  is  objected  to  Christianity,  which  in  my  text  may  be 
considered  as  meant  by  "  the  name  and  doctrine  of 
God,"  that  many  of  those  who  profess  to  be  regulated 
by  its  spirit  and  laws,  instead  of  being  better,  are  often 
much  worse,  than  other  men  ;  that  pretending  to  adhere 
to  it  as  a  system  of  truth  and  righteousness,  they  yet 
frequently  neglect  or  violate  the  duties  of  those  rela- 
tions and  conditions  in  which  they  are  placed  ;  that 
servants,  for  example,  as  here  particularly  alluded  to 
by  the  apostle,  bearing  the  name  of  Jesus,  do  notwith- 
standing, act  unfaithfully  and  disobediently  ;  that  the 
same  remark  is  applicable  to  individuals  of  every  other 
class  and  station  in  civil  society ;  and  that  even  some  of 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  have  studied  it  most, 
and  should  know  it  best,  are  themselves  grievously  ad- 
dicted to  the  follies  and  vices  of  the  world. 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  201 

This  objection,  indeed,  is  seldom  proposed  in  a  for- 
mal way  by  the  more  honest  and  rational  opponents  of 
our  religion;  because  they  could  hardly  do  so,  and  at 
the  same  time  hope  to  preserve  their  reputation  as  phi- 
losophers, or  as  men  of  sense.  But  the  objection  is, 
nevertheless,  substantially  contained,  and  artfully  urged, 
in  those  sneering  attacks  which  they  delight  to  make  on 
the  character  of  misguided  zealots,  and  in  that  ill-dis- 
sembled eagerness  and  affected  regret  with  which  they 
proclaim  the  failings  of  the  righteous.  It  is  employed 
as  a  triumphant  answer  to  all  our  arguments  in  favor  of 
Christianity,  by  the  ignorant,  the  thoughtless,  and  the 
profligate,  who  are  either  incapable  of  reasoning,  or 
unwilling  to  reflect  deeply  on  the  subject,  and  who  form 
a  large  proportion  of  the  unbelieving  class  of  mankind. 
And  it  will  frequently  obtrude  itself  on  the  notice,  and 
distress  the  feelings,  of  well-intentioned  Christians,  when 
they  see  the  unsanctified  deportment  of  those  who  call 
themselv^es  by  the  name  of  the  Saviour,  and  from  whom 
they  are  naturally  led  to  expect  the  brightest  examples 
of  piety  and  virtue.  On  these  accounts,  it  may  be 
proper  to  consider  the  objection  somew4iat  particularly, 
that  we  may  be  satisfied  how  much  reason  our  adver- 
saries have  to  be  ashamed  of  it,  and  how  very  little 
reason  we  have  to  yield  to  its  influence,  or  to  be  afraid 
of  its  effects  on  the  issue  of  the  great  controversy  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  as  those  who  are  "  fighting  the 
good  fight  of  faith."  In  the  present  discourse,  we  shall 
confine  our  attention  to  a  preliminary  point,  which  is  of 
considerable  importance  in  its  bearing  on  the  question 
to  be  discussed.  We  maintain  that  the  alleged  fact, 
though  too  frequently  realized,  both  in  our  own  con- 
duct, and  in  the  conduct  of  other  professing  Christians, 
is  far  less  prevalent  and  far  less  formidable  than  it  is 
usually  represented  to  be.  And  this  we  shall  endeavor 
to  illustrate  in  a  variety  of  particulars.- 

1.  In  the  first  place,  then,  the  persons  by  whom  the  ob- 
jection is  adduced,  seem,  in  many  cases,  to  be  influenced 
by  a  determination  to  censure,  with  or  without  reason, 


202  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

the  conduct  of  Christ's  professed  followers.  Whatever 
aspect  we  put  on,  and  whatever  deportment  we  main- 
lain,  they  must  discover,  or  imagine,  something  which 
they  may  use  as  a  pretext  for  personal  reproach,  and 
which  they  may  ultimately  level  against  the  doctrine  or 
principles  that  we  hold.  If  we  are  grave,  they  accuse 
us  of  being  morose  and  gloomy.  If  we  are  cheerful, 
then  we  are  light  and  joyous  spirits,  having  as  litde  seri- 
ousness and  as  much  wantonness  as  themselves.  If  we 
reprove  them  for  the  impiety  with  which  they  insult  our 
ears,  they  traduce  us  as  rude  and  officious  zealots,  who 
are  strangers  to  the  courtesy,  and  foes  to  the  intercourse, 
of  social  life.  If  we  find  it  expedient  to  overlook  the 
profaneness  or  indecency  of  which  ihey  have  been  guilty 
in  our  presence,  they  instantly  construe  our  silence  into 
an  approval  of  their  licentiousness,  and  set  us  down  as 
willing  associates  in  their  iniquity.  If  we  engage  in  the 
pursuits  of  industry  with  vigor,  or  assert  with  firmness 
any  of  our  temporal  rights  which  have  been  unjustly  at- 
tacked, they  say  we  are  covetous,  and  worldly  minded, 
and  love  gain  rather  than  godliness.  If  we  exhibit  in 
these  things,  any  degree  of  sanctification  and  self-denial, 
then  it  is  all  a  pretence  ;  we  are  driven  by  necessity, 
or  influenced  by  ostentation  ;  and  to  the  baseness  of  an 
avaricious  spirit,  we  have  added  the  odious  vice  of 
hypocrisy.  In  this  way,  and  in  various  other  respects, 
they  criticise  and  misinterpret  our  character  ;  and  every 
remark  terminates,  as  might  be  expected,  in  a  significant 
sneer  at  that  religion,  which  above  all  others,  was  de- 
signed to  make  men  virtuous  and  happy. 

That  we  are  actually,  and  in  many  instances,  treated 
in  this  manner  by  unbelievers,  it  may  not  indeed  be  easy 
to  prove  by  any  deduction  of  particulars.  But  the  fact 
must  have  come  within  the  experience  and  observation 
of  every  person  who  has  ever  mixed  with  the  enemies 
of  the  gospel.  And  truly  this  conduct  of  theirs  is  neither 
unnatural  nor  unprecedented.  It  is  not  unnatural,  for  it 
corresponds  exactly  with  iheir  ignorance  of  our  peculiar 
views,  and  with  that  ungenerous  wish  to  subvert  our  faith 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  203 

from  which  it  evidently  proceeds,  and  which  is  seldom 
very  scrupulous  about  the  sacrifices  that  it  will  make  to 
accomplish  its  object.  And,  it  is  not  unprecedented, 
for  it  was  long  ago  exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  Jews, 
who  were  pleased  neither  with  the  suitable  austerity  of 
the  Baptist,  nor  with  the  condescension  and  familiarity 
of  Jesus,  and  consequently  entertained  a  prejudice 
against  the  gospel  wliich  proved  fatal  to  themselves  and 
to  their  country.  "  Whereunto,"  said  Christ,  "  shall  T 
liken  this  generation  ?  It  is  like  unto  children  silting  in 
the  markets,  and  calling  unto  their  fellows,  and  saying, 
we  have  piped  unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  danced  :  we 
have  mourned  unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  lamented.  For 
John  came,  neither  eating  nor  drinking,  and  they  say, 
he  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  man  came  eatins;  and 
drinking,  and  they  say,  behold,  a  man  gluttonous,  and  a 
wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners." 

With  such  adversaries  as  these,  there  is  no  contending 
with  success :  we  have  no  chance  with  them ;  for  act  as 
we  please,  let  us  be  as  holy  and  irreproachable  as  we  may, 
they  will  so  misconstrue  what  we  say  and  do,  as  to  con- 
vert good  into  evil,  right  into  wrong,  innocence  into  guilt; 
and  then,  upon  an  invention  of  their  own  with  resj)ect  to 
our  behavior,  they  found  a  reproach  against  the  re- 
ligion we  profess.  But  even  when  they  discover  real 
fauhs  in  us,  their  mode  of  judging  is  still  characterised 
by  the  same  want  of  candor,  for 

2.  We  remark,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  fact 
which  gives  rise  to  the  objection  we  are  considering,  is 
not  unfrequeiitly  exaggerated,  by  the  fault  of  an  indi- 
vidual being  transferred  and  imputed  to  the  whole  class 
to  which  he  belongs.  If  any  Christian,  especially  one 
who  is  distinguished  by  religious  zeal,  or  who  holds  a 
sacred  office,  yield  to  temptation,  and  act  an  unworthy 
part,  the  eye  of  our  enemies  is  quick  to  discover, 
and  their  tongue  eager  to  proclaim  it.  And,  were  they 
to  confine  their  censure  to  the  real  offender,  allowing 
that  censure  to  be  as  severe  as  he  deserves,  though  we 
could  not,  perhaps,  admire  its  charity,  we  might  not  dis- 


204  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

pute  its  justice.  But  it  generally  happens,  that  they  re- 
gard the  maxims  neither  of  charity  nor  of  justice  on  such 
occasions.  J^Vhile  they  are  merciless  in  the  strictures 
which  they  direct  against  the  individual,  they  wantonly 
confound  the  innocent  with  the  guilty  ;  and  by  a  sweep- 
ing indictment,  charge  his  fault  upon  the  whole  of  his 
Christian  brethren.  Upon  his  personal  delinquency, 
they  found  a  libel  against  men  who  never  perhaps  heard 
of  his  name;  and  who,  while  they  might  charitably  la- 
ment, would  yet  scorn  to  patronise,  his  errors.  "This 
is  the  way,"  they  confidently  assert,  "  this  is  the  way  in 
which  Christians  act:  this  is  the  way  in  which  the  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  conduct  themselves  :  this  is  a  spsci- 
men  of  the  influence  which  that  religion  has  u}  on  its 
votaries."  In  these  broad  and  universal  terms,  they 
make  the  fault  of  a  single  member,  characteristic  of  the 
whole  community  to  which  he  belongs;  as  if  the  respon- 
sibility of  every  man  were  not,  in  fairness  and  in  truth, 
exclusively  limited  to  his  own  conduct;  or  as  if  the  in- 
visible church  of  Christ  would  authorize  any  one  to  be 
its  moral  representative. 

This,  it  must  be  allowed,  is  not  a  very  accurate  or 
candid  mode  of  judging;  but  it  is  extremely  prevalent, 
with  respect  to  the  various  professions  of  ordinary  life, 
as  well  as  to  the  profession  of  Christianity.  And  though 
it  can  never  be  commended,  since  it  is  intrinsically 
wrong,  yet  it  might  be  overlooked  in  the  latter  case  as  it 
often  is  in  the  former,  were  it  not  in  this  instance  carried 
to  a  most  dangerous  length,  and  employed  as  a  means 
of  disparaging  the  gospel,  and  ruining  immortal  souls. 
The  ultimate  aim  is  to  bring  Christianity  into  disrepute 
— to  "  blaspheme  the  name  and  the  doctrine  of  God  ;" 
and  in  order  to  accomplish  what  is  thus  intended,  the 
aberrations  of  every  individual  Christian  are  spoken  of, 
as  descriptive  of  all  who  have  embraced  the  religion  of 
Jesus,  and  as  a  sort  of  universal  and  necessary  accom- 
paniment to  the  faith  and  character  of  his  disciples. 

3.  It  may  be  observed  in  tlie  third  place,  that  the  fact 
of  which  we  are  speaking  is  often  exaggerated,  by  con- 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  205 

sidering  one  part  of  the  Christian's  conduct  as  a  test  of 
his  whole  character.     No  man,  indeed,  can  be  regarded 
as  truly  good, who  wilfully  and  habitually  violates  any  one 
of  the  precepts  which  he  believes  to  issue  from  divine 
authority.     I  speak  here,  however,  not  of  habitual,  but 
of  detached  and  occasional,  transgressions  of  the  divine 
law,  which,  it  cannot  be  denied,  have   been,  and  daily 
are,  committed  by  Christians  of  the  very  highest  attain- 
ments.    Now,  these   being  inconsistent  with  the   strong 
profession  of  the  Christian ;  appearing  more  enormous, 
because  they  attach  to  one  w^ho  has  been  in  the  practice 
of  reproving  others;  and  being,  perhaps,  independently 
of  these  aggravating  circumstances,  abundantly  flagrant 
and  injurious  in  themselves,  they  strike  the  feelings  and 
the  imagination  forcibly,  and  are  allowed  so  to  fill  up  the 
view,  that  the  virtues  and  graces  with  which  they  are 
associated,  are  forgotten  or  disregarded.     It  is  not  con- 
sidered that  the  best  of  men  cannot  be  perfect,  and  that, 
from  the  corruption  of  their  nature,  and  the  strength  of 
external  temptation,  they  will  be  sometimes  betrayed  into 
criminal  indulgence.     It  is  not  considered  by  what  bit- 
ter  regret  and    self-abasement,  such   indulgence  is  suc- 
ceeded, and   what  watchfulness,  and   mortification,  and 
holy  jealousy,  it  produces  in  their  future  life.     It  is  not 
considered,  how  carefully  they  have  avoided  a  thousand 
vices  into  which  multitudes  around   them  are  plunging 
every  day;    how  faithfully  they  have  studied  to  discharge 
their  personal  and  social  duties ;  and  how  many  have 
profited   by  their  benevolence,   their    instructions   and 
their  example.     All  this  is  as  much  forgotten  as  if  it  had 
no  existence  ;  or  it   is  recollected  only  for  the  purpose 
of  heightening  the    color  of  their   guilt.     The  splen- 
dor of  their  virtues  is  obscured  by  an   individual  spot, 
which  malice  or  misconception  has  magnified  far  beyond 
its  real  size.     And  their  character   is   appreciated,  not 
by  the  tone  of  their  principles,  in   connexion   with   the 
habitual  tenor  of  their  conduct,  but  by  a  single  vicious 
action,  of  which  their  mind  is  utterly  abhorrent,  which 
they  bewail  with  unfeigned  sorrow,  and  which  a  candid 
18 


206  IMPERFECTIONS    OP    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

eye  would  trace  to  those  imperfections  of  the  heart,  and 
those  infelicities  of  condition,  which  adhere  to  humanity 
in  its  best  estate. 

It  is   in  this  manner   that  many  of  the  enemies  of 
religion   decide,   upon  the  merits  of  its  sincerest   vo- 
taries,  and,   through  that   folse  medium,  upon   its  own 
pretensions  to  belief  and  submission.      They  look  at 
the  bad,  rather  than  the  good,  qualities  of  the  Chris- 
tian ;  and  speak  as  if  one  of  the  former  overbalanced 
the  brightest  assemblage  of  the  latter,   and   deprived 
them  of  all  their  claims  on  our  approbation.     Talk  to 
these  men  of  any  individual,  who  is   a  Christian  in  his 
practice,  as  well  as  in  his  profession ;  tell   them   of  his 
piety,  his  humility,  his  patience,  his  integrity,  his  char- 
ity ;  point  him  out  as  one  who   is   a  credit  to  religion, 
and  an  ornament  to  society  ;  and  they  will  instantly  re- 
vert to  some  unholy  action  which,  in   an   evil  hour,  he 
had  once  committed,  or  to  some   circumstances  of  his 
character  which  have   a   suspicious  appearance ;  they 
dwell  upon  these  with  relentless  severity,  and  conclude 
that  he  who  is  guilty  of  such  things,  whatever  he  may 
be   in   other    respects,  cannot  be    regarded   as   a  per- 
son of  real  worth.     Look  into  their  writings,  and   you 
will  perceive  the  same  want  of  candor  and  discrimina- 
tion, when  they  treat  of  those  religious  characters  which 
are  delineated  in  scripture.     The  unmanly  equivocation 
of  Abraham,  the   aggravated  crime  of  David,  and   the 
unhappy  strife  between  Paul  and   Barnabas,  are  held 
out  as  the  characteristical  features  of  these  eminent  per- 
sons: that  faith,  and  piety,  and  humility,  and  zeal  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  best  interests  of  mankind,  by 
which  they  were  severally  distinguished,  go  for  nothing 
in  the  estimate  that  is  formed  ;  and  the  solitary  deeds 
of  sin  which  they  themselves  never  attempted  to  justify 
or  to  palliate,  and  which  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  recorded 
for  our  instruction  and  warning,  are   employed  to   de- 
preciate or  to  annihilate  their  real  worth,  and  to  reduce 
them  to  a  level  with  those,  who  make  no  pretensions  to 
the  love   and  the  practice  of  religion.     Thus  it  often 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  207 

happens  that,  contrary  to  the  way  in  which  our  opponents 
judge  in  all  other  cases,  contrary  to  the  way  in  which  they 
themselves  would  choose  to  be  judged,  contrary  to  the 
way  in  which  reason  or  candor  permits  us  to  judge  of 
any  man,  they  make  one  unworthy  action  of  the  Chris- 
tian descriptive  of  his  whole  character,  and  an  index  to 
point  out  to  us,  with  unerring  certainty,  what  he  really 
and  essentially  is. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  the  fact  by  which  unbelievers 
are  furnished  with  the  objection  we  refer  to,  is  fre- 
quently amplified  by  a  too  rigid  comparison  of  the 
Christian's  conduct  with  the  religion  in  which  he  pro- 
fesses to  believe.  Christianity,  they  well  know,  pre- 
scribes a  course  of  action  the  most  pure  and  holy  that 
can  be  imagined.  It  admits  of  no  violation,  however 
inconsiderable,  of  the  duty  w^iich  we  owe  to  God,  to  our 
neighbor,  or  to  ourselves.  It  dictates  a  habitual  abhor- 
rence of  every  thing  that  is  sinful,  and  a  habitual  devoted 
affection  for  every  thing  that  is  good.  It  commands  us 
to  "  purify  ourselves,  even  as  God  himself  is  pure." 

Such  is  the  religion,  to  the  truth  of  which  we  have 
declared  our  assent;  such  the  religion,  by  which  we 
profess  to  be  regulated  ;  such  the  religion  wdiich  we 
recommend  to  the  faith  and  obedience  of  others.  Hence 
our  opponents  conclude,  either  wilfully  or  by  mistake, 
that  our  conduct  must  be  actually  immaculate  in  its 
whole  tenor,  and  in  all  its  constituent  parts.  They  do 
not  inquire  whether  this  state  of  moral  perfection  be  the 
constant  object  of  our  desires  and  our  endeavors  ;  but 
whether  we  have  actually  attained  to  it.  They  look  at 
us  in  the  spotless  mirror  of  the  gospel  :  they  find,  of 
course,  not  only  certain  features,  but  the  general  aspect 
of  our  character,  to  be  extremely  defective  ;  nay,  its 
blemishes  and  deformities  become  more  prominent, 
from  that  blaze  of  unshaded  purity  in  which  it  is  re- 
flected ;  and,  judging  by  this  appearance,  they  pro- 
nounce us  to  be  inconsistent,  hypocritical  and  base. 

Now,  it  would   be  fair  enough  to  judge   us  by  the 
standard  to  which  we  appeal,  if  they  would  take  care  at 


208  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

the  same  time  to  apply  it  under  the  direction  of  those 
rules,  which  the  very  nature  and  circumstances  of  the 
case  require  to  be  observed  in  such  an  important  trial. 
In  that  case  we  should  have  no  right  to  complain  ;  we 
should  abide  the  result,  whatever  it  might  be.  But  we 
justly  complain,  that  they  disregard  those  rules,  and  ex- 
pect from  us  what,  according  to  the  test  by  which  they 
try  us,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  we  should  ever  be 
able  to  exhibit.  They  forget  that  the  morality  of  the 
gospel  must  be  perfect,  because  it  is  prescribed  by  a 
perfect  Being,  and  that,  had  it  been  otherwise,  they 
would  very  soon  have  discovered  it  to  be  unworthy  of 
its  alleged  author.  They  forget  that  moral  imperfec- 
tion is  an  attribute  of  our  fallen  nature,  and  must  there- 
fore mingle  in  all  our  attempts  to  comply  with  the  divine 
will,  and  to  imjitate  the  divine  character.  They  forget 
that  this  doctrine  is  not  only  acknowledged  in  the 
Christian  system,  but  is  the  very  occasion  of  that  sys- 
tem being  planned,  and  the  very  foundation  on  which  it 
is  built.  They  forget  that  the  promises  and  blessings 
of  the  gospel  are  never  said  to  be  conferred  on  those, 
who  are  as  holy  as  the  divine  law  requires  ;  but  on 
those  who,  amidst  the  frailties,  and  the  corruption,  and 
the  sin  which  often  mark  their  path,  are  seeking  for 
heaven  through  justification  by  the  grace  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus,  through  sanctification  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
and  through  a  patient  continuance  in  well-doing.  To 
all  these  things  they  pay  no  attention,  although  such 
considerations  are  essentially  requisite  for  enabling  them 
to  form  a  "  righteous  judgment."  They  confine  their 
view  to  an  unqualified  contrast  between  the  moral  pre- 
cepts of  the  gospel,  and  the  actual  state  of  Christian 
character ;  and  because  the  latter  does  not  come  up  to 
the  former,  or  approach  very  near  to  it,  or  in  other 
words,  because  they  are  not  gratified  with  the  exist- 
ence of  that  which  they  have  no  title  to  expect,  they 
can  find  no  Christians  who  are  truly  and  sincerely  good. 
And  they  fall  the  more  readily  into  this  error,  by 
thinking  of  their  own  attainments.     They,  too,  have  a 


SER.  8,  EXAGGERATED.  209 

code  Qf  morals,  by  which  they  affect  to  be  guided  :  but 
it  is  so  very  indulgent  to  all  their  favorite  passions;  it 
so  uniformly  consults  their  pleasure,  their  inclinations, 
and  their  temporal  interests  ;  it  has  so  little  of  rigorous 
or  authoritative  injunction  belonging  to  it;  and  it 
abounds  so  much  in  saving  clauses,  that  to  conform 
oneself  to  it  strictly,  is  one  of  the  easiest  things  in  the 
world.  Its  standard,  indeed,  is  so  miserably  low,  that 
in  the  present  state  of  criminal  law  and  of  social  inter- 
course, it  is  easier  for  them,  methinks,  to  rise  above 
than  to  fall  below  it.  And,  because  they  are  conscious 
of  keeping  up  to  this  standard  of  behavior  which  they 
have  prescribed  to  themselves,  they  have  no  allowance 
to  make  to  the  Christian  for  coming  short  of  the  stand- 
ard which  is  prescribed  to  him  by  the  word  of  God, 
and  regard  his  deficiency  as  a  proof  that  he  is  not  what 
he  pretends  to  be. 

It  may  be  observed  also,  that  to  the  injurious  effects 
of  this  mode  of  judging,  the  ministers  of  religion  are 
more  particularly  exposed.  They  not  only  make  the 
same  general  professions  with  ordinary  Christians,  but 
take  a  leading  part  in  defending  and  propagating  the 
gospel.  They  preach  it  in  its  native  purity.  They 
remonstrate  with  the  unbelieving.  They  reprove  the 
disobedient.  They  insist  upon  a  faithful  performance 
of  duty,  and  forbid  the  least  indulgence  to  sinful  appe- 
tite. Hence  their  failings  are  more  ostensible  and 
striking.  A  kind  of  involuntary  resentment  against 
them  is  awakened  in  the  minds  of  those  whom  they  ad- 
dress- These  are  happy  to  find  an  excuse  so  specious 
for  their  own  immoralities.  The  avowed  enemies  of 
religion  seize  this  opportunity  of  urging  their  favorite 
topic  of  priestcraft  and  hypocrisy.  And  thus,  because 
ministers  are  not  exactly  and  altogether  what  they  teach 
others  to  be,  occasion  is  taken  to  question  their  sincer- 
ity, or  to  deny  that  they  have  a  good  conscience.  It 
may  be  said,  indeed,  to  such  persons,  "  We  are  men 
of  like  passions  with  yourselves ;  we  have  the  same 
corrupt  nature  ;  we  live  in  the  same  wicked  world  ;  we 
*18 


210  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8* 

are  assaulted  by  the  same  spiritual  foes;  we  are  exposed 
to  the  same  powerful  temptations.  We  cannot  there- 
fore set  a  perfect  example  of  the  pure  and  faultless  mo- 
rality of  the  gospel,  which  we  are  nevertheless  bound  to 
preach,  by  the  most  sacred  obligations  of  fidelity  to 
God,  and  of  love  to  you."  This  reasoning  is  very  ob- 
vious, and  to  a  reflecting  mind,  irresistible.  And  yet 
how  often  does  it  happen,  that  by  a  rigorous  compari- 
son of  the  conduct  which  ministers  recommend,  with 
ihe  conduct  which  they  exhibit — a  comparison  which 
gives  to  their  very  best  actions  an  unfavorable  aspect, 
and  converts  their  most  inconsiderable  faults  into  great 
and  flagrant  guilt — they  are  convicted  of  absolute 
worthlessness,  or  thrust  down  to  a  much  lower  degree 
m  the  scale  of  character,  than  they  are  fairly  entitled  to 
hold.  And  being  thus  judged  according  to  a  most  fal- 
lacious appearance,  they  aie  doomed  to  suffer  the  evil 
of  a  most  unrighteous  judgment. 

In  our  next  discourse  on  this  subject,  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  show,  that  the  misconduct  of  Christians,  which 
our  enemies  are  so  eager  to  lay  hold  of  and  exaggerate, 
affords  no  argument  against  the  truth  and  excellence  of 
the  gospel,  and  that,  on  this  account,  they  have  no 
reason  for  "  blaspheming  the  name  and  the  doctrine  of 
God."  In  the  mean  time,  we  shall  ofTer  a  few  remarks 
in  reference  to  what  has  been  already  said. 

1.  And  in  the  first  place,  let  it  not  be  thought,  that 
we  mean  to  plead  for  any  undue  or  unlawful  indulgence 
to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  In  that  case  we  should, 
indeed,  inflict  a  cruel  blow  on  the  interests  of  religion, 
and  be  surrendering  the  very  cause  we  profess  to  vin- 
dicate. The  gospel  is  altogether  "  a  doctrine  accord- 
ing to  godliness"  and  purity :  its  very  purpose,  as  well 
as  its  whole  tendency,  is  to  destroy  the  ascendancy  of 
sin,  and  restore  man  to  the  holy  image  of  his  Maker ; 
and  to  say  that  any  of  its  votaries  may  innocently 
neglect  any  duty,  or  taste  of  one  criminal  gratification, 
would  be  equally  untrue  and  pernicious.  But  our  ob- 
ject has  been  to  point  out  the  unfairness  of  its  adver- 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  211 

saries,  in  giving  false  and  exaggerated  views  of  those 
errors,  into  which  real  Christians  are  betrayed,  in  spite 
of  all  their  resolutions  and  vigilance  and  efforts,  in  order 
to  remove  one  ground  on  which  occasion  is  taken  to 
"blaspheme  the  name  and  doctrine  of  God."  After 
all,  though  there  were  to  be  no  exaggeration  in  the 
case,  every  fault  committed  by  any  of  Christ's  followers, 
will  be  taken  advantage  of  to  speak  evil  of  the  gospel. 
But  it  is  not  just,  either  to  the  gospel  or  to  the  followers 
of  Christ,  that  Christian  conduct  should  be  misappre- 
hended or  misrepresented,  or  judged  of  uncandidly. 
And  our  design  has  been  to  guard  against  these  evils ; 
not  to  apologize  for  the  ^ins  of  believers,  but  to  prevent 
them  from  being  so  magnified  or  so  mistaken,  as  to 
answer  an  infidel  purpose,  to  which  they  could  not 
otherwise  have  been  made  subservient. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  let  Christians  beware  of  en- 
couraging unbelieving   and  ungodly  men,  in   this   mode 
of  misjudging   and  misrepresenting   character.     Many, 
through  rashness,  or  resentment,  or  some  other  unjusti- 
fiable feelins,  seem  anxious  not  only  to  detect,  but  even 
to  proclaim  the  faults  of  their  brethren,  and  to  set  them 
forth  in  more  than  their  real  enormity  or  aggravations;  and 
thus,  without  any  bad  intention,  but  as  really  and  effect- 
ually as  if  they  had    such   intention,  they  furnish   those 
who  wait  and  "watch  for  our  halting"  with  an  occasion 
to  blaspheme.     Now,  let  us  carefully  avoid  this.     It  is 
wrong  in  itself;  it  is   uncharitable  and   cruel  to  those 
who  are  the  more  immediate  objects  of  it;  and  it  is 
wantonly  increasing  those  prejudices  against  the  gospel 
which   are   already  too   numerous  and   too   strong,  and 
fortifying  its  enemies  In  their  unbelief  and  hostility.     At 
the  same  time,  we  must  beware  of  carrying  this  tender- 
ness too  far.     Excessive  anxiety  to  conceal  the  miscon- 
duct of  our  Christian  brethren,  labored  attempts  to  pal- 
liate their  guilt,  unwillingness  to  condemn  them  for  what 
is  clearly  and  undeniably  wrong,  and  such  a  treatment 
of  them  as  they  would  have  received  from  us  had  they 
been  innocent — all  this  is  decidedly  reprehensible  and 


212  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

mischievous.  Taking  part  to  this  extent  with  the  of- 
fender, is  too  much  like  giving  countenance  and  pro- 
tection to  the  offence.  It  is,  in  some  measure,  identi- 
fying ourselves  with  those  who  are  to  blame.  By 
showing  so  much  indulgence  to  their  fault,  we  virtually, 
as  it  were,  adopt  and  repeat  it.  And  thus  we  give  our 
adversaries  a  double  handle  for  "  blaspheming  the  name 
and  the  doctrine  of  God,"  by  giving  them  room  for 
alleging  that  we  have  no  great  indignation  against  sin, 
provided  it  be  committed  by  those  who  are  of  the  same 
religious  creed,  and  the  same  religious  profession  with 
ourselves.  Let  us  avoid  this :  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
let  us  be  careful  not  to  give  s  deeper  coloring,  and  not 
to  give  a  wider  publicity  to  the  failings  and  misdeeds  of 
our  Christian  neighbors,  than  the  real  merits  of  the  case 
w^arrant,  and  the  successful  correction  of  the  evil  may 
require.  Let  charity  be  exercised  as  far  as  is  consist- 
ent with  truth,  which  must  be  paramount  to  every  other 
consideration.  And  thus,  let  nothing  be  unnecessarily, 
or  rashly,  added  to  the  means  with  which  irreligious 
men  are  already  too  amply  provided,  for  "  blaspheming 
the  name  and  the  doctrine  of  God." 

3.  Lastly,  let  us  scrupulously  abstain,  in  our  own 
conduct,  from  every  thing  of  which  advantage  may  be 
taken,  for  that  unhallowed  purpose.  Whatever  men 
may  think  or  say  of  us,  it  should  be  our  constant  study 
to  be  "holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation."  But  it  is 
lawful  and  proper  for  us  to  derive  a  motive  for  culti- 
vating that  character,  with  peculiar  care  and  diligence, 
from  the  effect  which  it  may  have,  not  merely  in  en- 
couraging our  fellow-Christians,  but  also  in  lessening 
both  the  means,  and  the  spirit,  of  hostility  in  those  who 
are  inimical  to  the  gospel.  For  this  end,  it  becomes  us 
to  "  walk  in  wisdom  towai'ds  them  that  are  without ;" 
to  "keep  a  bridle  on  our  tongue  while  the  wicked  are 
before  us ;"  to  "  abstain  from  the  very  appearance  of 
evil ;"  and  "  not  to  let  our  good  be  evil  spoken  of." 
We  must  not,  indeed,  allow  ourselves  to  be  allured  into 
ostentation  and  hypocrisy.     We  must  not  be  guilty  of 


SER.  8.  EXAGGERATED.  213 

mean  compliances — of  sneaking  compromises — of  cow- 


ardly concealments.  We  must  not  commit  any  thi 
that  is  sinful,  in  order  to  hide  a  more  flagrant  iniquity, 
or  to  make  others  believe  that  we  possess  the  virtues  of 
which  our  conscience  tells  us  that  we  are  destitute.  We 
must  be  bold,  and  honest,  and  truthful.  And  then,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  made  consistent  with  these  essential 
qualities,  we  must  be  prudent  and  circumspect  in  every 
part  of  our  behavior — anxious  to  keep  ourselves  free 
from  the  suspicion,  as  well  as  from  the  reality  of  un- 
righteousness— faithful  in  all  the  duties  and  transactions 
of  our  peculiar  calling,  or  our  peculiar  circumstances — 
ready  to  make  sacrifices  even  of  what  we  might  other- 
wise withhold,  in  order  to  prevent  offence  being  taken 
by  those  who  are  observing  us — and  in  all  things,  we 
must  endeavor  to  "let  our  light  so  shine  before  men" 
that  "  whereas  they  are  disposed  to  speak  against  us  as 
evil-doers,  they  may,  by  our  good  works  which  they 
shall  behold,  glorify  God  on  the  day  of  visitation." 
Thus  shall  we  work  out  our  own  salvation,  and  as  far 
as  we  are  concerned,  thus  shall  we  prevent  "  the  name 
and  the  work  of  God  from  being  blasphemed,"  and  pro- 
mote the  influence  of  "  pure  and  undefiled  religion" 
among  our  brethren  of  mankind. 


SERMON  IX. 


THE  IMPERFECTIONS    OF   CHRISTIANS   NO 
ARGUMENT   AGAINST   CHRISTIANITY. 


1  TIMOTHY  vi.  1. 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  7iot  blasphemed.''^ 

In  a  former  discourse  on  these  words,  we  proposed  to 
consider  the  objection  to  Christianity  which  is  drawn 
from  the  sinful  conduct  of  those  who  have  embraced  it. 
We  first  directed  your  attention  to  the  alleged  fact  on 
which  the  objection  is  made  to  rest,  and  endeavored  to 
show  you  that  it  is  much  exaggerated.  We  stated  that 
it  is  exaggerated  in  these  four  ways  ;  first,  by  a  deter- 
mination to  censure,  with  or  without  reason,  the  con- 
duct of  Christ's  professed  followers ;  secondly,  by  the 
fault  of  one  Christian  being  transferred  and  imputed  to 
Christians  in  general )  thirdly,  by  considering  one  part 
of  the  Christian's  conduct  as  a  test  of  his  real  and  sub- 
stantial character,  and  fourthly,  by  an  uncandid  and 
unwarranted  comparison  of  his  deportment,  with  the 
religion  to  which  he  appeals  as  the  standard  of  his  faith 
and  manners. 


SER.  9.  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS.  215 

We  now  go  on  to  show,  that  the  fact  in  question  can- 
not be  reasonably  adduced  to  invalidate  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  or  constitute  any  just  cause  of  offence  against 
that  system  of  religion. 

Now,  it  may  be  observed  in  general,  that  the  great 
and  decisive  question  respecting  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
is  not  a  question  of  practical  effects,  any  more  than  it  is 
a  question  of  abstract  speculation,  but  simply  a  questioQ 
of  fact — of  fact,  which  is  obvious  to   every  understand- 
ing, and  which  offers  itself  on  the  evidence  of  testimony. 
If  Jesus  Christ  and  his   apostles  wrought  miracles  in 
support  of  their  mission — if  we  be  satisfied    that  they 
were  thus  honored  with  the  sanction  of  divine  authority 
— then  it  behoves  us,  on  every  principle  of  reason  and 
common   sense,    to    admit    the     doctrine    which   they 
preached  as  the  doctrine  of  God.     Having  ascertained 
and  acknowledged  the  reality  of  this  circumstance,  we 
have  ascertained  and  acknowledged  that  which  leads  us, 
not  by  any  doubtful  or  circuitous  argument,  but  directly 
and   irresistibly,  to  receive  the   gospel  as  a  true  revela- 
tion.    Of  the  particulars,  indeed,  of  which  this  revela- 
tion consists,  we  may  entertain  different  opinions ;  but 
there  can  be  one  opinion  only  with  regard  to  its  exist- 
ence, and   our  consequent  obligation   to  embrace  it  in 
some  form  or  other.  When,  therefore,  various  objections, 
such  as  the  one  we  are  discussing,  are  brought  forward 
against  it,  we  do  not  say  that  they  are   altogether  un- 
meaning, or  may  not  have  a  certain  effect  in  modifying 
our  views  of  it ;  but,   holding  by  the  conviction  which 
has  been  laid  on  the  deep,  and  broad,  and  strong  found- 
ation of  well   attested  fact,  we   say  that  they  must  be 
destitute  of  all  solidity  as  to  the  purpose  for  which  they 
are  adduced;  they  must  arise  from  ignorance,  miscon- 
ception,  or   perverseness ;   and   cannot,   with   any  pro- 
priety, affect  our  faith.     They  may  afibrd  us  matter  of 
regret ;  they  may  present  to  us  difficulties  that  we  can- 
not solve ;  they  may  furnish  us  with  subjects  of  curious 
or  of  useful  inquiry;  but  as  reasons  for  rejecting  Christi- 
anity, or  for  treating  it  with  distrust,  they  are  absolutely 


216  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  8. 

futile  and  inadmissible.  If  anyone  would  persuade  us, 
that  we  should  not  believe  in  the  Christian  religion,  he 
must  first  prove,  that  God  gave  no  miraculous  attestation 
to  its  Author  and  original  propagators.  If  he  succeed 
in  his  proof,  the  use  of  every  subordinate  argument  is 
thereby  superseded  for  showing  it  to  be  ''a  cunningly 
devised  fable."  But  if  he  fail  in  this  attempt,  and  we 
be  still  convinced,  that  it  enjoyed  the  countenance  of 
heaven  in  the  way  alluded  to,  it  is  impossible  for  us,  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  to  doubt  of  its  truth,  or  to 
consider  it  as  substantially  false,  notwithstanding  all  the 
exceptions  to  it  which  he  is  able  to  state,  however  nu- 
merous, and  however  pointed.  When  therefore,  it  is 
urged  that  it  cannot  be  a  revelation  from  God,  because 
those  who  have  embraced  it,  continue  to  lead  wicked 
lives,  which  it  must  be  the  object  of  a  divine  revelation 
to  prevent,  we  may  allow  the  premises,  but  we  must 
deny  the  conclusion.  Men  may  reject  what  is  true,  and 
disobey  legal  authority ;  this  is  what  they  do  every  day. 
But  such  rejection  and  disobedience  neither  alter  the 
nature  of  that  truth,  nor  destroy  the  legitimacy  of  that 
authority.  In  the  same  way,  the  Christian  religion,  be- 
ing established  on  grounds  which  have  the  sanction  of 
God  to  support  them,  cannot  be  deprived  of  its  claims 
to  our  submissive  regard,  because  those  who  profess  to 
believe  in  it,  do  not  act  uniformly  as  it  requires.  "  Let 
God  be  true,  and  every  man  a  liar." 

The  objection  must  suppose,  that  the  wickedness  of 
professing  Christians  arises  either  from  Christianity  be- 
ing directly  immoral  in  its  influence,  or  from  its  being 
deficient  in  power  to  make  its  votaries  holy. 

Now,  that  its  influence  is  far  from  being  directly  im- 
moral will  be  granted,  without  hesitation,  by  every  one, 
who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  its  spirit,  and  its  principles. 
It  has  a  character  so  completely  opposite  to  this,  that  it 
is  commonly  accused  by  its  enemies  of  being  severely 
and  unnecessarily  strict,  inasmuch  as  it  requires  us  to 
conform  ourselves  to  a  perfect  law,  and  to  imitate  a 
perfect  example.     Some  of  its  doctrines,  indeed,  have 


SER.  9.      NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.         217 

been  made  a  pretext  for  licentious  conduct ;  but  this  is 
only  a  proof  that  the  best  things  are  frequently  most 
abused  ;  for  these  doctrines,  when  fairly  represented 
and  rationally  understood,  are  all  found  to  be  "  accord- 
ing to  godliness.''  They  furnish  occasion  for  the  exer- 
cise of  some  grace,  or  motives  for  the  performance  of 
some  duty,  or  reasons  for  being  universally  devoted  to 
the  will  of  God.  They  encourage  vice  in  those  only  who 
take  partial  views  of  them ;  who  seek  for  countenance 
to  their  iniquities ;  who  are  distinguished  by  fanaticism, 
or  by  profligacy,  or  by  a  melancholy  combination  of 
both.  What  else,  indeed,  can  be  the  character  of  those 
who  sin  because  the  goodness  of  God  abounds?  And 
besides,  although  these  doctrines,  singly  considered, 
should  seem  to  countenance  vicious  indulgence,  which 
yet  must  be  explicitly,  as  it  can  be  fairly,  denied,  yet  this 
apparent  tendency  is  entirely  removed,  when  they  are 
viewed,  as  they  always  ought  to  be  viewed,  in  connex- 
ion with  the  preceptive  part  of  the  gospel,  whose  unri- 
valled purity  is  above  all  suspicion. 

The  objection,  therefore,  must  owe  its  force  to  the 
other  alternative  that  was  stated.  It  must  suppose  that 
Christianity  is  deficient  in  power,  or  not  properly  calcu- 
lated to  make  its  votaries  holy.  For  the  purpose  of 
determining  this  point,  let  us  first  examine  that  religion, 
as  far  as  the  allegation  goes  ;  and  then  let  us  look  at  the 
effects  which  it  has  actually  produced  on  the  moral  char- 
acter of  its  adherents. 

Wherein,  then  does  its  alleged  deficiency  consist  ? 
In- what  respect  is  it  naturally  inefficacious,  for  making 
men  virtuous  and  good  ?  Is  it  defective  in  the  plainness 
and  energy  of  its  precepts  ?  Nothing  can  be  plainer, 
or  more  forcible,  than  the  manner  in  which  it  proposes 
its  rules  for  the  regulation  of  our  conduct.  The  ten 
commandments  given  by  Moses,  the  discourses  of  our 
Saviour,  and  the  practical  parts  of  the  Epistles,  are  exam- 
ples of  this  which  must  excite  the  admiration  of  every 
candid  reader.  In  these,  the  actions  we  are  to  avoid, 
and  those  we  are  to  perform,  are  stated  so  clearly,  that 
19 


218  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  9. 

"  he  who  runs  may  read ;"  and  they  are  stated  so  pos- 
itively, as  to  exclude  all  doubt  of  their  intended  obliga- 
tion. And,  what  is  particularly  worthy  of  remark,  the 
precepts  of  the  gospel  are  so  generally  diffused  over  the 
sacred  records,  that,  in  every  page  we  peruse,  they 
are  laid  down  to  us  in  some  shape  or  other;  and  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  any  part  of  the  scripture  is,  in 
other  words,  to  become  acquainted  with  a  certain  por- 
tion of  our  duty. 

Again,  is  Christianity  defective  on  the  extent  of  its 
morality.  Its  morality  could  not  be  more  extensive  than 
it  actually  is.  There  is  no  vice  which  it  does  not  pro- 
hibit:  there  is  no  virtue  which  it  does  not  enjoin.  It 
does  not  forbid  merely  great  and  flagrant  crimes ;  it 
forbids  all  those  lesser  sins,  which  so  often  escape  the 
notice  of  a  corrupted  world,  and  teaches  us  that  no  sin 
whatever  can  be  innocently  indulged.  It  does  not  pre- 
scribe merely  the  more  obvious  duties  of  life ;  it  pre- 
scribes every  duty  that  arises  from  the  various  circum- 
stances and  relations  in  which  we  are  placed.  It  does 
not  recommend  merely  those  shining  excellencies  of 
conduct  which  attract  the  public  gaze,  and  produce 
mighty  and  striking  effects ;  it  recommends  also,  with 
no  less  earnestness,  the  exercise  of  those  humble  and 
unassuming  graces  which  are  equally  important  to 
the  happiness  of  mankind,  though  seen  by  no  eye  but 
His,  from  whom  nothing  can  be  concealed.  It  does  not 
inculcate  merely  rectitude  of  external  deportment,  with 
which  so  many  are  disposed  to  rest  contented  :  it  incul- 
cates, with  peculiar  force  and  frequency,  that  internal 
purity,  that  habitual  holiness,  in  all  the  thoughts  and  af- 
fections of  the  heart,  which  is  the  best  security  that  can 
be  desired  for  a  well-ordered  life  and  conversation.  It 
does  not  say  merely,  that  we  must  be  virtuous  and  good  ; 
it  says,  that  we  must  always  abound  in  godliness  and  good 
works,  and  that  our  path  must  be  like  "  the  shining  light, 
which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 
The  gospel  is  not  defective  then,  in  the  extent  of  its 
morality. 


SER.  9.      NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.         219 

Is  it  defective  in  the  principles  on  which  its  morahty 
is  founded  ?  That  might  be  affirmed,  if  it  inculcated 
the  principle  of  fictitious  honor,  which  this  moment 
stimulates  to  noble  deeds,  and  the  next  gives  its  coun- 
tenance to  boundless  dissipation  and  bloody  revenge  ; 
or  the  principle  of  sentimental  feeling,  which  is  but  a 
modification  of  passion,  and  cannot  therefore  be  trusted 
as  a  guide  of  conduct;  or  the  principle  of  selfishness, 
which  teaches  us  to  stifle  the  suggestions,  and  laugh  at 
the  pretensions  of  disinterested  benevolence ;  or  the 
principle  of  utility,  which  is  so  liable  to  mistake,  and 
must  be  so  useless  to  the  bulk  of  mankind,  who  are 
incapable  of  taking  comprehensive  views ;  or  any  other 
principle  which  reaches  no  higher  than  the  erring  rea- 
son, or  more  unsettled  passions  of  men,  and  extends 
no  farther  than  the  limited  interests  and  pleasures  of 
the  world.  But  the  principles  of  Christian  morality 
are  of  a  quite  different  and  infinitely  more  perfect  kind, 
and  fitted,  by  their  natural  and  unfettered  operation,  to 
form  a  character  of  unblemished  and  superlative  worth. 
Profound  regard  for  the  authority  of  Him  who  made  us, 
whose  subjects  we  now  are,  to  whom  we  are  finally  ac- 
countable, and  who  possesses  the  most  sacred  and  un- 
questionable tide  to  our  unreserved  homage  ;  firm  and 
lively  faith  in  the  existence  and  perfections  of  God,  and 
in  the  various  declarations  and  discoveries  of  his  will 
which  are  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  supreme 
love  and  ardent  gratitude  to  that  Being  who  is  infinitely 
amiable  in  himself,  and  whose  unbounded  mercy  in 
Christ  Jesus  has  laid  us  under  obligations  to  obedience, 
the  most  cheerful  and  devoted ;  a  heartfelt  reliance 
upon  that  sacrifice  of  himself,  by  which  the  Son  of  God 
redeemed  sinners  from  the  guilt  and  the  dominion  of 
sin,  and  thereby  established  a  claim  to  their  homage 
and  submission  which  it  will  require  the  services  of 
an  eternity  to  satisfy ;  that  charity  towards  all  our  breth- 
ren of  mankind  w^hich,  enlightened,  directed,  and  invig- 
orated by  the  revelation  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  by 
the  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  extends  as  far  as  the 


220  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  9. 

habitations  of  men  are  found,  elevates  us  above  the  sor- 
did wish  of  living  to  ourselves,  and  consists  in  so  loving 
each  other  as  Christ  has  loved  us ;  a  pure  desire  and 
rational  hope  of  attainius;  to  the  happiness  of  heaven, 
where  we  shall  enjoy  communion  with  him  whose  name 
is  Holy,  and  have  for  our  companions  "  the  angels  who 
kept  their  first  estate,"  and  "  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect," — these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  gospel  proposes  to  form  the  temper 
and  conduct  of  its  votaries;  and  surely  it  cannot  be 
owing  to  any  imperfection  in  these  principles  that  pro- 
fessing Christians  are  chargeable  with  acts  of  wicked- 
ness ',  for  we  cannot  conceive  principles  more  power- 
fully calculated  to  subdue  the  boldest  passions,  to 
awaken  and  cherish  the  best  affections,  to  dissuade  from 
every  thing  that  is  in  the  least  degree  unholy,  and  to  se- 
cure a  constant,  faithful,  and  conscientious  performance 
of  duty. 

Is  Christianity  defective,  then,  in  the  sanctions  with 
which  its  laws  are  enforced  ?  These  sanctions  are  fitted 
to  awe  the  stoutest,  and  to  animate  the  coldest  heart. 
They  exclude  not  the  happiness  and  the  misery  that 
may  be  experienced  in  this  mixed  and  transitory  state, 
as  the  appointed  consequences  of  virtue  and  vice  in 
every  part  of  God's  dominions.  But  they  are  much 
more  extended,  interesting,  and  impressive,  than  any 
thing  that  can  be  either  suffered  or  enjoyed  in  a  present 
world,  or  at  the  hand  of  human  beings.  They  promise 
the  favor,  and  they  threaten  the  displeasure,  not  of  the 
mightiest  of  the  children  of  men,  but  of  Him  who  has 
every  thing  at  his  command  ;  who  "  loveth  righteous- 
ness and  hateth  iniquity,"  whose  "  favor  is  better  than 
life"  and  whose  displeasure  is  worse  than  death.  And 
they  direct  our  views  forward  to  a  judgment-day,  to  a 
solemn  reckoning,  to  a  sentence  that  shall  never  be 
recalled,  to  an  entrance  into  the  regions  of  unspeakable 
and  immortal  joy,  and  to  "  everlasting  destruction  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his 
power."     When  such  are  the  rewards  which  Chris- 


SER.  9.      NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.         221 

tianity  annexes  to  obedience,  and  such  the  punishments 
which  it  denounces  against  the  rebellious  and  ungodly, 
no  doubt,  with  respect  to  the  sufficiency  of  its  sanctions, 
can  remain  in  any  mind  which  knows  what  it  is  to  be 
deterred  by  fear,  or  stimulated  by  hope  ;  or  which  feels 
the  distinction  that  subsists  between  the  good  and  the 
evil,  the  blessing  and  the  curse. 

Is  it  defective  in  the  encouragements  which  it  gives  to 
virtuous  exertions  ?  What  encouragements  greater  than 
these — an  assurance  that  "  the  eye  of  God  is  ever  upon 
the  righteous,  and  his  ear  open  to  their  cry," — an 
assurance  that  the  afflictions  to  w^hich  their  virtue  may 
subject  them,  shall  be  made  conducive  to  their  improve- 
ment,— an  assurance  that,  in  living  holy,  they  are  living 
to  the  praise  of  that  Saviour  who  redeemed  them  by 
his  own  blood, — an  assurance  that  every  deed  of  char- 
ity shall  be  accounted  and  rewarded  by  Jesus,  as  "  done 
unto  Himself," — an  assurance  that,  whereas  they  are 
weak  and  insufficient  of  themselves,  the  Spirit  of  all 
might  shall  be  sent  to  their  assistance, — an  assurance 
that  they  are  walking  in  that  path  which  has  been  trod- 
den by  thousands  before  them,  who  are  now  rejoicing 
around  the  throne  of  God, — an  assurance  that  the  time 
is  fast  approaching,  when  all  their  labors  of  suffering  and 
of  active  virtue  shall  be  crowned  with  honor  and  glory, 
in  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  their  Father?  Such 
being  the  assurances  explicitly  given  in  Scripture,  the 
gospel  cannot  possibly  be  considered  as  deficient  in  the 
encouragements,  with  which  it  supports  and  animates 
the  Christian  in  that  holy  path,  by  which  it  is  appointed 
that  he  shall  journey  to  the  heavenly  world. 

[s  it  defective,  I  ask,  in  the  last  place,  in  the  external 
means  which  it  prescribes,  for  promoting  the  spiritual 
improvement  of  the  Christian  ?  Here  also,  it  is  wholly 
unexceptionable.  It  puts  into  his  hands  a  volume, 
which  is  "  given  by  inspiration,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction  and  instruction  in 
righteousness,  that  as  a  man  of  God,  he  may  be  per- 
fect, thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."  It 
*19 


222  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.  9. 

appoints  qualified  persons  to  explain  to  him  the  mean- 
ing of  these  scriptures  ;  to  instruct  him  in  every  part  of 
his  duty;  to  remind  him  of  what  he  owes  to  God,  to 
his  neighbor,  and  to  himself;  to  warn  him  when  he 
goes  astray  ;  to  encourage  him  in  the  pursuit  of  holi- 
ness; and  to  use  every  means  by  which  he  maybe 
made  to  abound  yet  more  and  more,  in  all  the  things 
that  are  excellent.  It  consecrates  one  day  in  seven  to 
rest  from  ordinary  labor,  to  give  him  a  special  opportu- 
nity of  examining  his  heart,  of  reviewing  his  past  con- 
duct, and  of  providing  an  additional  store  of  knowledge 
and  wisdom  for  his  guidance  in  future.  It  institutes 
certain  ordinances,  by  which  his  moral  principles  are 
strengthened  ;  and  by  which,  to  the  obligations  that 
already  bind  him,  there  is  superadded  that  which  arises 
from  a  voluntary  and  solemn  dedication  of  himself  to 
the  love  and  practice  of  goodness.  It  prescribes  to  him 
the  exercise  of  habitual  prayer,  by  which  his  mind  is 
accustomed  to  the  contemplation  of  divine  excellence, 
and  by  which  he  derives  from  heaven,  the  grace  and 
strength  that  are  requisite  for  enabling  him  to  walk  in 
the  ways  of  God's  commandments.  And,  what  is  of 
the  utmost  consequence,  it  does  not  merely  recommend 
the  use  of  these  means  as  a  source  of  improvement  and 
advantage,  but  makes  it  a  subject  of  authoritative  ap- 
pointment, and  commands  it  as  a  duty,  which  we  are 
under  as  strict  obligations  to  perform,  as  any  of  the 
other  duties  required  of  us  by  the  laws  of  God. 

In  all  the  views  now  taken  of  the  moral  influence  of 
the  gospel,  it  evidently  appears,  that  no  defect  whatever 
can  be  ascribed  to  it  in  that  particular.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  seems  perfectly  calculated,  by  the  qualities  we 
have  found  it  to  possess,  to  purify,  in  an  extraordinary 
measure,  the  heart  and  the  character  of  its  adherents. 
It  seems  calculated  to  produce  this  effect,  not  only 
above  all  the  religious  and  moral  systems  which  have 
yd  appeared  in  the  world,  but  above  any  system  which 
the  unaided  powers  of  man  can  be  reasonably  supposed 
capable  of  forming.     The  survey  of  it  which  has  been 


SER.  9.     NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.         223 

taken,  necessarily  short  and  rapid,  is  yet  sufficient,  we 
presume,  to  establish  the  conclusion  at  which  we  aim. 
To  whatever  cause  the  wickedness  of  professing  Chris- 
tians may  be  owing,  it  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  want 
of  fitness  in  the  Christian  system  to  produce  a  contrary 
character,  but  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  whole  spirit, 
and  design,  and  tendency  of  that  system.  And,  there- 
fore, instead  of  considering  the  fact  on  which  so  much 
stress  is  often  laid  by  the  enemies  of  our  faith,  as  any 
proof  against  its  divine  origin,  we  should  look  to  the 
moral  character  of  that  faith  itself,  as  being  not  only 
worthy  of  the  God  from  whom  it  professes  to  come, 
but  capable  of  being  traced  to  no  inferior  source,  and 
consequently,  as  furnishing  a  powerful  and  irresistible 
evidence,  for  the  divinity  of  our  holy  religion. 

We  have  still  to  consider  the  effects  which  Chris- 
tianity has  actually  produced,  on  the  moral  character  of 
its  adherents.  But  that  point  we  must  reserve  as  the 
subject  of  another  discourse  ;  and  we  shall  now  con- 
clude with  a  few  remarks,  by  way  of  improvement. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  inherent  excellence  and  puri- 
fying tendency  of  the  gospel,  and  contrast  it,  in  these 
respects,  with  the  conduct  actually  exhibited  by  many 
who  profess  attachment  to  it,  there  is  indeed  much  rea- 
son for  wonder  and  regret — for  wonder  that  the  effect 
is  so  very  unlike  the  cause  which  we  suppose  to  oper- 
ate, and  for  regret  that  there  should  be  so  much  unwor- 
thiness  amidst  such  manifold  and  mighty  advantages. 
It  surely  becomes  those  who  call  themselves  Christians, 
and  yet  lead  unholy  iiv^es,  to  think  seriously  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  this  inconsistency  affects  their  character 
and  their  prospects.  It  renders  them  chargeable  with 
being  "  enemies  to  God  by  wicked  works,"  while  they 
enjoy  the  light  which  should  guide  them  in  the  path  of 
righteousness,  and  profess  to  walk  in  that  path,  while 
yet  they  are  travelling  in  the  way  of  transgressors :  and 
being  thus  enemies  to  God,  what  can  all  their  priv- 
ileges however  valuable,  and  all  their  pretensions,  how- 
ever sacred,  do  for  them,  when  they  are  called  to  give 


224  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS.  SER.  9. 

in  their  account? — what  but  aggravate  the  condem- 
nation to  which  they  must  be  doomed  in  the  eternal 
judgment?  Let  me,  therefore,  entreat  you  to  search 
and  try  yourselves,  that  you  may  discover  your  sin- 
fulness and  your  danger,  in  their  full  extent,  that  you 
may  be  aware  how  far  you  are  from  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  though  you  are  living  amidst  the  outward  ben- 
efits of  the  gospel  dispensation,  and  that  you  may  be 
persuaded  to  embrace  that  gospel  in  faith  and  love, 
having  your  hearts  renewed  and  sanctified  by  its  quick- 
ening power,  and  all  your  principles,  and  affections,  and 
conduct,  subjected  to  its  holy  government. 

And  let  not  this  discussion  be  lost  upon  real  Chris- 
tians. It  becomes  you,  my  believing  friends,  to  "  stir 
up  the  grace  that  is  in  you,"  that  you  may  live  more 
•'  unblameably  and  irreproveably"  in  the  sight  of  your 
brethren  and  of  the  world  5  to  cherish  the  faith  that  you 
have  placed  in  Jesus,  that  it  may  exert  a  still  more 
purifying  influence  on  your  "heart,  out  of  which  are 
the  issues  of  life  ;"  to  be  more  watchful  against  tempta- 
tion, and  more  determined  in  resisting  it ;  to  keep 
yourselves  more  from  the  snares  and  allurements  of 
"  the  world,  that  lieth  in  wickedness ;"  and  to  pray, 
more  frequently  and  more  fervently,  for  that  Divine 
Spirit,  through  whom  alone  you  can  be  preserved  from 
the  defilements  of  sin,  and  be  enabled  to  "  walk  worthy 
of  the  vocation  wherewith  you  are  called."  Live  thus, 
and  you  will  not  only  work  out  your  own  salvation,  but 
you  will  be  instrumental  in  promoting  the  salvation  of 
others,  in  preventing  "  the  name  and  the  doctrine  of 
God  from  being  blasphemed,"  and  in  promoting  the 
prosperity  and  influence  of  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


SERMON  X, 


THE  IMPERFECTIONS    OF   CHRISTIANS   NO 
ARGUMENT    AGAINST   CHRISTIANITY. 

1  TIMOTHY  vi.  1. 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  wider  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  ivorthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.''^ 

In  entering  on  the  consideration  of  these  words,  we 
proposed  to  consider  the  objection  to  Christianity  which 
is  drawn  from  the  sinful  conduct  of  those  who  have  em- 
braced it.  We,  first,  directed  your  attention  to  the 
alleged  fact  on  which  the  objection  is  made  to  rest,  and 
endeavored  to  show  you  that  it  is  much  exaggerated. 
We  next  proceeded  to  show  you,  that  the  fact  in  ques- 
tion cannot  be  reasonably  adduced  to  invalidate  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  or  to  constitute  any  just  cause  of 
offence  against  that  system  of  religion.  Here  we  re- 
marked, that  the  objection  must  suppose  that  the  wick- 
edness of  professing  Christians  arises  either  from  Chris- 
tianity being  directly  immoral  in  its  influence,  or  from 
its  being  deficient  in  power  to  make  its  votaries  holy. 
The  first  part  of  this  alternative  we  discarded,  as  what 
no  person  would  presume  to  maintain.     And,  in  dis- 


226  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS         SER.   10. 

cussing  the  second  part  of  it,  we  took  occasion  to  prove 
that  Christianity  is  not  deficient  in  the  plainness  and  en- 
ergy of  its  precepts — nor  in  the  extent  of  its  morality — 
nor  in  the  principles  on  which  its  morality  is  founded — 
nor  in  the  sanctions  by  which  its  duties  are  enforced — 
nor  in  the  encouragements  which  it  gives  to  holy  exer- 
tion— nor  in  the  external  means  which  it  prescribes  for 
promoting  the  spiritual  improvement  of  the  Christian. 
But  then  the  argument  is  not  complete,  till  we  have 
considered  the  effects  which  Christianity  has  produced 
on  the  moral  character  of  its  adherents.  And  it  is  to 
this  point  we  are  to  speak  in  the  sequel  of  the  present 
discourse. 

1.  Let  it  be  considered  what  a  multitude  of  excel- 
lent characters  have  been  formed  by  the  influence  of 
the  gospel.  From  its  first  establishment  down  to  the 
present  day,  every  successive  age  has  had  a  number  of 
individuals  and  of  families  by  whom  its  sanctifying 
power  has  been  deeply  felt  and  practically  exhibited. 

On  looking  into  the  history  of  its  progress  and  effects, 
we  observe  that  it  no  sooner  obtained  a  footing,  than  it 
began  to  change  the  moral  aspect  of  society,  wherever, 
at  least,  the  profession  of  it  prevailed.  By  thousands  it 
was  acknowledged  as  a  divine  religion  ;  and  by  a  very 
great  proportion  of  these  its  spirit  was  imbibed,  and  its 
precepts  were  obeyed.  They  w^ere  converted  by  it 
from  the  abominations  of  heathenism,  and  from  the  cor- 
ruptions of  Judaism ;  they  did  not  merely  abandon  a 
speculative  error,  and  adopt  a  speculative  truth ;  it  was 
not  a  mere  improvement  in  point  of  doctrine  :  it  was  a 
total  renovation  in  their  heart  and  life.  They  became 
humane  and  pure,  meek  and  temperate ;  anxious  to 
"  depart  from  all  iniquity,"  and  zealous  in  the  cultivation 
of  universal  holiness  ;  eminent  for  their  personal  virtues, 
— for  piety  to  God,  and  benevolence  to  men.  This  is 
no  imaginary  representation — no  extravagant  picture  of 
fancy — no  exaggerated  statement  to  support  an  other- 
wise untenable  hypothesis.  It  is  a  well  authenticated 
fact,  which  stands  upon  record,  and  of  which  every  one 


SER.  10.    NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.        227 

must  be  satisfied  who  is  acquainted  with  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  church :  a  fact,  which,  in  those  times, 
attracted  the  notice  and  excited  the  admiration  of  the 
bitterest  enemies  of  Christianity ;  and  which  operated 
powerfully  in  recommending  that  system  to  the  respect, 
the  faith,  and  the  obedience  both  of  Jew  and  Gentile. 
But  this  fact  was  not  limited  to  the  primitive  times  of 
Christianity.  It  has  existed,  more  or  less,  in  every 
age ;  we  cannot  fix  our  eyes  on  a  single  page  in  the 
history  of  our  religion,  in  which  its  triumphs  over  the 
bad  passions  and  evil  habits  of  mankind  have  not  been 
conspicuous.  Even  in  that  dark  period,  when  the 
knowledge  of  its  genuine  doctrines  seemed  to  be  lost ; 
when  it  had  assumed  a  form  the  most  unfavorable  to 
morality — when  it  appeared  to  be  overwhelmed  with 
the  most  debasing  corruption  ;  even  then,  amidst  all 
these  disadvantages,  it  had  its  votaries,  whom  it  ele- 
vated far  above  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  and  adorned 
at  once  with  the  most  splendid  and  the  most  amiable 
virtues.  And  since  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  which 
rescued  it  from  the  fooleries  of  superstition,  and  from 
the  multiform  and  numerous  errors  which  had  been 
industriously  intermingled  with  its  sacred  truths,  it  has 
given  many  striking  proofs  of  its  tendency  to  purify  the 
affections,  to  ameliorate  the  conduct,  and  to  make  men 
what  they  ought  to  be,  as  subjects  of  God's  righteous 
government.  If  we  look  around  us  in  the  present  day, 
we  discover  on  every  hand  its  powerful  operation  on 
the  active  principles  of  those  who  have  embraced  it. 
We  observe  it  giving  dignity  to  personal  deportment ; 
filling  the  domestic  circle  with  love  and  harmony ; 
beautifying  social  lifeVith  the  graces  of  meekness,  be- 
nevolence, and  mercy  ;  and  throwing  a  lustre  on  national 
character,  far  above  that  which  distinguished  the  bright- 
est periods  of  Greece  and  Rome.  We  do  not  say, 
indeed,  that  it  has  ever  made  any  man  perfect ;  or  that 
those  who  have  embraced  it  are,  in  consequence  of  its 
influence,  altogether  free  from  vice.  But  we  say,  that 
it  has  superinduced  on  their  character  so  much  moral 


228  IMPERrECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS        SER.   10. 

excellence,  as  to  render  them  objects  which  we  must 
contemplate  with  feelings  of  complacency,  with  senti- 
ments of  respect.  How  many  individuals  are  there, 
who  abound  in  godliness  and  good  works,  and  whose 
superior  virtue  we  can  trace  to  no  other  cause,  than  the 
sanctifying  power  of  Christian  truth  !  They  themselves 
acknowledge  that  it  is  this  which  constrains  them  to  ab- 
stain from  vice,  and  to  do  the  holy  will  of  God.  And 
while  it  must  be  confessed,  that  they  frequently  fall 
short  in  the  performance  of  duty,  it  is  evident,  at  the 
same  time,  that  they  deeply  regret  their  imperfections, 
that  they  habitually  endeavor  to  "  perfect  holiness  in  the 
fear  of  the  Lord,"  and  that  they  succeed  so  far,  at 
least,  as  to  establish  their  right  to  a  kind  and  a  degree 
of  approbation,  which  we  can  never  bestow  upon  those 
whose  life  has  been  formed  on  a  different  model.  In 
short,  that,  among  those  who  have  professed  the  gospel, 
there  have  been  many  trained  to  a  high  measure  of 
moral  worth  under  its  influence,  and  its  influence  alone, 
is  a  fact  which  every  age  has  witnessed,  which  must  be 
admitted  by  every  person  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with 
the  progress  of  Christianity,  or  disposed  to  view  it  with 
a  candid  eye ;  and  which  must  have  existed  to  an  ex- 
tent far  greater  than  we  have  had  access  to  know,  or  to 
observe,  seeing  that  the  influence  of  religion  has  been 
chiefly  experienced  by  those  who  have  moved  in  the 
humble  and  more  tranquil  walks  of  life,  and  has  purified 
thousands  and  millions  whose  virtues  have  never  been 
heard  of,  and  never  witnessed,  beyond  the  narrow 
sphere,  or  obscure  occupation,  in  which  providence  had 
cast  their  lot. 

2.  But  the  holy  tendency  of  the  gospel  is  obvious, 
not  only  from  its  powerful  effect  on  those  who  have  truly 
believed  its  divine  origin,  and  given  a  candid  reception 
to  its  doctrines;  the  same  thing  may  be  seen  in  the  im- 
proved moral  condition  of  those  also,who  hav^e  either  given 
a  mere  speculative  assent  to  it,  or  who  are  acquainted  only 
with  its  tenets  and  precepts,  or  who  live  merely  in  coun- 
tries where  it  is  professed.     In  these  cases,  it  has  con- 


SER.   JO.     NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.       229 

fessedly  raised  the  tone  of  public  morals,  put  a  stop  to 
practices  which  disgraced  human  nature,  given  rise  to 
the  most  humane  and  useful  institutions,  introduced  a 
more  perfect  standard  of  moral  judgment,  and  infused 
into  the  mind  of  society  at  large  a  spirit  of  propriety,  of 
generosity,  of  rectitude,  and  of  decency,  which  has  ele- 
vated man  above  his  ordinary  level,  and  which  no  other 
system  has  ever  been  able  to  inspire.  The  history  of 
the  gospel  furnishes  us  with  a  detail  of  interesting  and 
incontrovertible  facts,  which  demonstrate,  that  Chris- 
tianity has  neither  been  useless  nor  detrimental  as  a 
moral  system  ;  that  it  has  maintained  an  influence  pe- 
culiar to  itself,  over  the  sentiments  and  manners  of  man- 
kind ;  and  that  this  influence  has  been  at  once  power- 
ful, important,  and  extensive.  But  if  it  has  been  so 
eflicient  with  regard  to  thousands  and  myriads  who  have 
not  experienced  individually  its  converting  and  saving 
power,  of  how  much  real  native  energy,  in  this  respect, 
must  it  be  possessed,  and  how  admirably  calculated 
must  it  be  to  purify  those,  who  receive  it  as  a  divine 
religion  ?  Although  we  had  never  seen  one  instance  of 
its  complete  personal  efficacy,  we  could  not  possibly, 
without  giving  up  all  our  ideas  of  tracing  effects  to 
their  causes,  and  of  reasoning  by  analogy,  have  denied, 
or  even  questioned,  its  possession  of  a  direct  and  vigor- 
ous tendency  to  discourage  the  practice  of  sin,  and  to 
promote  the  reign  of  holiness  in  the  world.  The  argu- 
ment is  equally  simple  and  irresistible.  If  the  gospel 
have  actually  reformed  and  greatly  improved  the  char- 
acter of  those,  who  have  merely  lived  in  countries  where 
it  has  been  known  and  professed,  then  surely  it  cannot 
be  deficient  in  power,  to  carry,  to  high  and  distinguished 
attainments  in  virtue,  such  as  have  truly  imbibed  its  spirit, 
and  yielded  themselves  to  its  guidance.  And  though 
tliis,  of  itself,  is  not  a  sufficient  ground  for  believing 
Christianity  to  be  of  heavenly  origin,  it  is  at  least  quite 
adequate  to  the  purpose  of  meeting  and  nullifying  the 
objection  that  we  are  discussing. 
20 


230  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS       SER.  10. 

3.  It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  state  that  there  are 
many  who  show  in  their  conduct,  the  holy  tendency 
and  sanctifying  power  of  Christianity — that  there  are, 
and  have  been,  multitudes  of  Christians  who  have  adorned 
their  religion  by  the  exercise  of  every  virtue — it  is 
proper  to  state,  in  addition  to  this,  the  contrast  which 
their  present  conduct  exhibits  to  their  former  conduct, 
and  also  to  the  deportment  of  others,  who  have  rejected 
the  gospel,  or  who  have  never  heard  of  its  existence. 
At  this  contrast  we  have  already  hinted  ;  but  though  it  by 
no  means  requires  a  long  illustration,  it  certainly  de- 
serves a  more  particular  notice,  as  being  essential  to  a 
complete  view,  and  a  just  decision,  of  the  subject. 

We  are  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  considering  simply 
what  the  Christian  is.  We  must  compare  what  he  is. 
with  what  he  was  before  he  embraced  the  gospel, 
This  shows  the  degree  of  power  which  that  religion  has 
to  make  its  votaries  holy.  He  who  is  brought  from  the 
love  and  practice  of  the  most  abominable  vices — from 
evil  habits  of  the  most  inveterate  kind,  to  take  delight  in 
the  law  of  God,  and  in  the  performance  of  duty,  has 
been  unquestionably  constrained  by  motives  of  no  ordi- 
nary strength,  and  has  paid  a  species  of  homage  to  the 
system,  by  which  this  revolution  has  been  effected  in  his 
character,  which  our  adversaries  will  in  vain  attempt  to 
account  for  on  their  usual  principles. 

It  is  right  also,  to  compare  the  moral  character  of 
the  Christian,  with  that  of  others  who  have  not  known 
or  adopted  the  same  religious  faith.  While  he  is  "  de- 
nying ungodHness  and  worldly  affections,"  they  are  not 
even  sensible  that  there  is  much  guilt  or  evil  in  these 
things.  While  he  is  "  living  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly,"  they  are  indulging  freely  in  the  gratification  of 
every  criminal  appetite  and  passion.  While  he  is  acting 
on  a  fixed  and  steady  principle  of  regard  to  the  authority 
of  God,  they  are  anxious  only  in  the  pursuit  of  worldly 
interests,  or  of  sensual  pleasure,  and  consider  nothing 
as  valuable  which  does  not  contribute  to  these  unworthy 
ends.     While  he  is  habitually  regulating  his  conduct  by 


SER.   ]0.    NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.       231 

a  standard  of  unmingled  excellence,  and  is  making  grad- 
ual approaches  to  the  perfection  at  which  he  constantly 
aims,  they  are  conforming  to  maxims  which  have  their 
foundation  in  error;  they  are  addicted  to  many  vices  upon 
system,  and   under  the  very  sanction  of  their  religion, 
disgracing  themselves  hy  practices  the  most  odious  and 
detestable.     Let  the  adversaries  of  our  faith  consider 
this — Let  them  recollect  that  the  votaries  of  Christianity 
are   distinguished    by   a  species,  and  have   attained  a 
degree,  of  moral  worth,  which  we  shall  in  vain  search  for 
in  the  votaries  of  any  other  system  whatever — let  them 
recollect  that  the  gospel  has  raised  the  character  of  the 
lowest  of  the  people  who  have  embraced  it,  incompara- 
bly higher  in  the  scale  of  mjorality  than  the  most  accom- 
plished disciple  of  the  most  eminent  schools  of  philoso- 
phy has  ever  been  able  to  reach — let  them  recollect  that 
true    Christians  far  exceed,  in  the  purity  and  extent  of 
their  virtue,  even  those  who,  though  they  have  not  be- 
lieved in  the  gospel,  have  yet  borrowed  many  of  its  pre- 
cepts, have  been  trained  up  under  the  prevalent  influence 
of  its  spirit,  and  are   accounted  the  most  amiable  and 
respectable  of  the  men  of  the  world — let  them  recollect 
these  things,  and  then  deny,  if  they  can,  not  merely 
the  superior,  but  the  direct,  and   decided,  and  undevi- 
ating  tendency  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  make  those 
by  whom  it  is  adopted,  remarkable  for  the  love  and  the 
practice  of  genuine  holiness. 

4.  It  was  formerly  stated,  that  the  fact  upon  which 
the  objection  we  are  considering  is  founded,  is  frequently 
exaggerated  by  the  fault  of  one  Christian  being  trans- 
ferred or  imputed  to  the  whole  church.  But  I  have 
now  to  observe,  that  the  fact  is  also  most  unfairly  and 
injuriously  misapplied  in  another  way.  Our  adversaries 
make  no  distinction  between  real,  and  merely  nominal 
Christians.  And  yet  that  such  a  distinction  actually 
exists,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  attended  to,  must  be  ad- 
mitted by  every  one  who  has  any  pretensions  to  justice 
and  candor.  It  is  notorious  that  there  are  some  whose 
belief  in  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  merely  speculative  ; 


232  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.   10. 

who  cannot  deny  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  supported 
by  sufficient  evidence,  but  who  have  no  distinct  and  im- 
pressive views  of  its  divine  nature,  and  infinite  impor- 
tance ;  who  consider  it  as  a  system  of  abstract  doctrine, 
and  never  recognise  or  think  of  it  as  the  rule  of  conduct 
which  they  must  observe,  or  perish  for  ever.  That  it 
should  have  much  practical  influence  on  persons,  by 
whom  it  is  regarded  in  this  cold  and  distant  manner,  is 
not  to  be  expected  :  their  ideas  of  it  are  extremely  im- 
perfect :  they  hate  its  spirit :  they  wish  it  to  be  different 
from  what  it  is  :  they  admit  it  to  be  true,  because  they 
cannot  prove  it  to  be  false  :  and  give  it  such  a  reception 
in  their  minds,  as  is  given  by  a  habitual  drunkard  to  the 
maxim  that  drunkenness  is  a  wicked  and  ruinous  prac- 
tice, while,  with  this  conviction,  which  his  understanding 
cannot  refuse,  he  goes  on  to  indulge  as  formerly  in  the 
vice  of  intemperance. 

There  are  many,  too,  who  have  assumed  the  pro- 
fession of  Christianity,  without  any  conviction  at  all 
respecting  its  credibility,  but  because  they  have  been 
born  and  educated  in  a  Christian  country,  and  are 
naturally  desirous  to  comply  with  the  fashion  that  pre- 
vails around  them.  They  might  be  offended  were  we 
to  call  them  infidels ;  but  neither  can  they  be  denom- 
inated believers  :  they  are  in  a  great  measure  ignorant 
of  the  religion  which  they  appear  to  have  embraced  ; 
they  are  careless  whether  it  be  of. divine  institution,  or 
of  human  device  ;  all  their  concern  is  to  move  quietly 
down  the  stream  of  custom,  and  not  to  disturb  them- 
selves with  inquiries  into  the  nature,  and  strict  compli- 
ance with  the  requisitions,  of  a  religion  of  which  they 
know  but  little,  and  think  it  of  no  consequence  to  learn 
more.  To  look  for  habitual  resistance  in  persons  of 
tliis  description  to  the  temptations  of  sin,  or  for  high 
attainments  in  holiness  and  piety,  is  not  less  absurd 
tlian  to  look  with  confidence  for  gold  in  every  object, 
the  surface  of  which  has  accidentally  received  a  yellow 


SER.   10.     NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.       233 

There  are  not  a  few  also,  who  profess  to  be  Chris- 
tians, while,  in  their  hearts,  they  do  not  believe  one 
word  of  the  gospel.  They  have  some  sinister  purposes 
to  serve,  and  the  better  to  accomplish  these,  they  pre- 
tend to  be  followers  of  Christ,  and  observe  such  forms 
as  shall  demonstrate  them  to  be  so,  in  the  vague  and 
indiscriminating  estimation  of  the  world  ;  but  all  the  while 
they  are  in  reality  unbelievers ;  they  reject  Christ  as  a 
messenger  from  God,  and  accordingly  despise  the  au- 
thority of  his  gospel.  And  is  it  reasonable  to  be  disap- 
pointed because  such  persons  do  not  exhibit  a  character 
regulated  by  its  precepts,  or  pervaded  by  its  temper  ? 
Is  it  any  thing  but  folly  in  the  extreme,  to  argue  on  the 
supposition  that  they  shall  obey  a  system  of  religion 
which  they  consider  to  be  nothing  else  than  "  a  cun- 
ningly devised  fable  5"  or  that  they  shall  submit  to  its 
commandments  any  farther  than  is  absolutely  requisite 
to  promote  the  mean  and  interested  ends  which  they 
have  in  view  ?  With  equal  propriety  may  we  feel  and 
express  surprise  that  an  enemy's  spy,  who  assumes  our 
dress,  and  makes  occasional  use  of  our  language,  the 
more  effectually  to  deceive  us,  will  not  also  conform 
himself  to  all  our  laws,  strive  to  guard  us  from  danger, 
labor  to  promote  our  prosperity,  and  act  in  every  respect 
like  a  faithful  friend  and  a  patriotic  subject. 

In  all  these  cases,  there  is  a  gross  absurdity  in  ex- 
pecting such  a  virtuous  deportment  as  will  be  creditable 
to  the  gospel ;  and  there  is  the  same  gross  absurdity  in 
imputing  to  the  gospel  the  defects  and  iniquities  of 
those  who  are  unacquainted  with  it,  or  w^io  do  not  love 
it,  or  who  cordially  reject  it.  The  gospel  surely  can- 
not be  made  to  answer  for  the  crimes  of  speculatists, 
and  hypocrites,  and  infidels,  without  being  subjected  to 
a  test,  which  would  have  equally  condemned  it,  what- 
ever had  been  the  nature  or  degree  of  its  evidence. 
We  say,  let  it  be  judged  of  by  its  own  intrinsic  merits 
and  uniform  tendency  ;  or  even  lei  it  be  judged  of  by 
the  conduct  of  those  who  have  embraced  it  in  faith,  and 
love,  and  reality  ;  and  we  feel  confident  that  the  result 
*20 


234  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS  SER.   10. 

will  be  decidedly  favorable  to  its  claims  on  our  profound 
and  unlimited  regard.  For  we  maintain  that,  while  it 
is  inherently  calculated  to  make  men  "  holy  in  all  man- 
ner of  conversation,"  it  has  actually  produced  that  effect 
in  numberless  instances  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  intro- 
duced a  most  happy  improvement  of  the  moral  senti- 
ments and  behavior  of  those  who  have  merely  come 
within  the  range  of  its  indirect  and  unacknowledged 
influence. 

5.  That  the  gospel  has  not  been  more  generally 
efficacious  in  reforming  mankind,  and  in  perfecting  the 
character  of  its  votaries,  is  to  be  accounted  for  in  various 
ways.  Without  entering  into  any  detail,  however,  I 
may  merely  mention  one  general  principle  which  ap- 
pears to  solve  the  whole  difficulty.  The  gospel  is  not 
a  system  of  compulsion.  It  is  a  dispensation  given  to 
beings  who  have  a  particular  moral  constitution ;  and  to 
the  nature  and  circumstances  of  that  constitution  it  is 
adapted  by  its  infinitely  wise  Author.  We  are  endowed 
with  powers  of  investigation,  of  judgment,  and  of  choice 
— with  all  the  powers,  in  short,  which  are  necessary  to 
constitute  us  voluntary  agents ;  and  for  the  exercise  of 
these  powers,  and  in  consequence  of  possessing  them, 
we  are  finally  responsible  to  God.  Now  on  this  essen- 
tial character  of  our  condition,  as  subjects  of  God's 
moral  government,  the  gospel  is  offered  to  us.  It  is 
not  forced  upon  us  by  any  physical  necessity  :  its  Au- 
tlior  does  not  propose  to  treat  us  as  machines,  and  com- 
pel us  to  accept  of  it,  and  yield  to  it,  in  defiance  of  the 
very  faculties  and  capacities  with  which  He  himself  has 
invested  us.  He  has  supported  it  by  certain  evidences 
which  we  are  called  on  to  examine,  that  we  may  be 
rationally  satisfied  of  its  truth.  He  has  put  into  it  cer- 
tain doctrines  and  precepts,  which  we  are  required  to 
investigate  in  order  to  know  what  they  are,  and  in  what 
sense  they  form  a  part  of  revelation.  He  has  presented 
to  us  certain  motives,  not  to  overpower  us  with  a  sort 
of  mechanical  and  irresistible  force — but  to  exercise 
our  affections,  to  work  upon  our  hopes  and  our  fears, 


SER.   10.     NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.       235 

our  hatred  and  our  love,  in  a  manner  accommodated  to 
the  original  nature  which  he  has  conferred  upon  us  as 
rational  and  accountable  beings.  And,  in  all  these 
views,  it  is  certainly  not  to  be  objected  to  the  gospel, 
that  many  to  whom  it  is  offered  should  be  blind  to  its 
excellence  and  its  credibility ;  that  they  should,  from 
rash  or  perverted  judgments,  fall  frequently  into  prac- 
tical error;  that  their  passions  and  their  prejudices 
should  sometimes  overcome  their  convictions  of  truth, 
and  their  sense  of  duty  ;  that  the  objects  of  sense  should, 
in  certain  circumstances  of  temptation  and  difficulty,  be 
more  regarded  by  them  than  the  objects  of  faith ;  that 
tliey  should  occasionally  forget  their  obligations,  neglect 
the  proper  means  of  resisting  the  allurements  of  sin,  fall 
a  prey  to  snares  against  which  they  have  made  no  ad- 
equate provision,  and  ever  choose  the  evil,  while  they 
despise  the  good  that  is  set  before  them.  To  find 
fault,  therefore,  with  the  little  comparative  efficacy  of 
Christianity  in  reclaiming  and  sanctifying  men,  is  in  fact 
to  complain  that  man  is  constituted,  as  he  is,  a  volun- 
tary and  accountable  agent ;  or  that  God  has  not  made 
Christianity  a  system  of  absolute  compulsion,  and  thus 
destroyed  the  essential  nature  by  which  we  are  distin- 
guished from  the  other  creatures  of  this  world.  Such 
a  complaint  is  unquestionably  foolish  :  but  we  have  no 
reason  to  pursue  the  argument  farther  than  this  step  to 
which  we  have  brought  it,  that  the  failure  of  the  gospel 
to  make  all  men  holy,  is  to  be  charged  not  against  the 
gospel  itself,  but  against  the  corruption  and  perversity 
of  men ;  who,  though  "  light  has  come  into  the  world, 
choose  the  darkness  rather  than  the  light,  because  their 
deeds  are  evil ;"  and  who,  in  consequence  of  this  undue 
preference,  must,  of  course,  continue  to  have  "  fellow- 
ship with  the  unprofitable  and  sinful  works  of  darkness." 
We  should  now  point  out  the  way  in  which  Chris- 
tians ought  to  act,  so  as  that  the  word  and  the  doc- 
trine of  God  be  not  blasphemed.  This  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  subject  which  the  apostle  has  more  im- 


236  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS       SER.   10. 

mediately  in  his  eye ;  and  it  may  be  comprehended 
under  the  following  heads. 

1.  There  is  the  general  duty  of  a  practical  and  un- 
reserved submission  to  God's  will  as  revealed  in  the 
gospel. 

2.  There  is  a  faithful  and  conscientious  discharge  of 
the  duties  wdaich  belong  to  the  several  relations  in  which 
we  stand,  and  the  various  circumstances  in  which  we 
are  placed. 

3.  There  is  a  willing  sacrifice  of  certain  rights,  and 
privileges,  and  comforts,  on  retaining  which  we  might 
properly  insist,  in  certain  circumstances,  but  w-hich  it  is 
incumbent  upon  us  to  forego  when  the  cause  of  Chris- 
tianity requires  it. 

4.  There  is  a  habitual  reference  to  those  great  and 
influential  principles  wdiich  we  have  embraced  as  Chris- 
tians, and  which  are  both  intended  and  calculated,  to 
produce  sanctifying  effects,  in  more  than  an  ordinary 
measure. 

5.  And  there  is  a  constant  and  conscious  dependance 
upon  the  divine  Spirit,  which  itself  operates,  both  as  a 
guard  and  as  an  incitement  in  the  path  of  life  ;  and 
which  prompts  to  that  application  by  prayer  for  God's 
help,  which  we  are  so  apt  to  forget,  but  which  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  procure  for  us  what  we  thus  need. 

The  illustration  of  these  particulars,  however,  we 
must  reserve  for  a  future  discourse. 

In  the  mean  time  let  us  be  thankful  to  God,  that  he 
has  laid  a  foundation  for  our  faith  so  strong,  as  to  set  at 
defiance  the  cavils  and  objections  of  its  adversaries,  and 
to  satisfy  us  that  the  more  we  examine  it,  the  more 
reason  shall  we  see  for  clinging  to  it  and  resting  upon 
it.  If  any  thing  could  be  supposed  capable  of  shaking 
or  overturning  it  and  all  that  it  sustains,  it  would  be  the 
unholy  conduct  of  those  who  appeal  to  it,  as  the  ground 
of  their  hope  and  confidence.  And  yet  we  see  that  it 
remains  firm  and  sure,  in  spite  of  all  their  treachery  and 
inconsistency.     The  gospel  leads  us  to  expect  such  un- 


SER.    10.    NO  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  CHRISTIANITY.       237 

worthiness  on  their  part.  It  does  not  profess  to  make 
them  perfect  in  virtue  as  long  as  they  are  in  this  world. 
It  only  offers  and  promises  to  renovate,  and  sanctify, 
and  improve,  all  who  embrace  it,  in  such  a  way  and 
in  such  a  degree,  as  may  be  expected  from  its  agency 
on  beings  who  still  carry  about  with  them  the  remains 
of  corruption,  and  dwell  in  a  world  of  temptation  and 
wickedness.  But  it  produces  upon  them  a  real,  ex- 
tensive, moral  change,  which  no  other  system  has  ever 
accomplished,  or  pretended  to  accomplish :  it  raises 
them  to  high  attainment  in  the  excellence  which  God 
approves ;  and  it  thus  gives  an  earnest  of  that  sinless 
purity  to  which,  through  its  instrumentality,  they  shall 
be  exalted,  in  the  heavenly  state. 

Let  us  be  grateful  also,  in  so  far  as  we  have  person- 
ally experienced  the  transforming  power  of  the  gospel. 
This  is  a  distinguished  privilege,  which  we  can  never 
sufficiently  acknowledge.  It  is  a  revolution  of  heart 
and  character  essential  to  our  ultimate  salvation — to  our 
comfort  here,  and  to  our  happiness  hereafter.  It  has 
been  accomplished  by  that  grace  of  God  to  which  we 
could  lay  no  claim,  and  which  has  been  as  gratuitous, 
as  it  has  been  efficacious.  It  is  an  indication  that  we 
are  interested  in  all  the  benefits  of  Christ's  redemption. 
It  is  itself  a  part  of  the  deliverance  which  he  has 
wrought  out  for  us  by  his  sufferings  and  death.  It  is 
an  evidence,  an  experimental  and  convincing  proof,  to 
ourselves,  that  Christianity  is  from  God,  and  that  "  the 
Author  and  finisher  of  our  faith"  is  "  mighty  to  save." 
And  it  affords,  through  the  medium  of  our  sanctifica- 
tion,  a  proof  to  others  of  the  truth,  and  the  virtue,  and 
the  efficiency,  of  that  glorious  system  in  which  we  ex- 
hort them  to  believe.  Let  us  therefore  offer  our  un- 
feigned and  cordial  thanksgivings  to  Him  by  whose 
grace  it  is  that  "  we  are  what  we  are  ;"  and  let  us  pray 
that  he  may  enable  us  more  and  more  to  "  prove  what 
is  his  good,  and  holy,  and  acceptable  will." 


238  IMPERFECTIONS    OF    CHRISTIANS.        SER.  10. 

And,  finally,  let  us  strive  with  all  our  might,  that 
"  the  word  and  the  doctrine  of  God  be  not  blasphemed." 
Though  the  objection  we  have  been  considering  has  no 
real  strength  in  it ;  though  we  know  this  from  what  we 
ourselves  feel  in  our  own  experience, — yet,  knowing 
that  it  is  often  employed  by  the  enemies  of  religion,  and 
that,  too,  with  considerable  success,  let  us  be  careful 
to  avoid  giving  any  color  to  it,  or  any  ground  for  it,  by 
the  wickedness  or  the  imprudence  of  our  conduct.  If 
we  would  show  our  regard  for  the  honor  and  success  of 
the  gospel  among  men,  we  must  not  only  be  holy  in  the 
common  and  general  sense  of  that  word ;  we  must, 
moreover,  be  tender  and  circumspect  in  the  whole  tenor 
of  our  life  ;  we  must  "  walk  in  wisdom  towards  them 
that  are  without ;"  we  must  "  abstain  from  the  very  ap- 
pearance of  evil;"  we  must  "let  our  light  so  shine  be- 
fore men,  that  they  seeing  our  good  works,  may  glorify 
our  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 


SERMON    XL 


THE   DUTY   OP    CHRISTIANS    IN    REFERENCE 

TO    THE    OBJECTION   FOUNDED  UPON 

THEIR    IMPERFECTIONS. 

1  TIMOTHY  vi.  1. 

'•^'Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  ivorthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.''^ 

The  unworthy  conduct  of  professing  Christians  has 
been  often  brought  forward  as  an  objection  to  the  truth 
of  Christianity.  We  have  shown  you,  that  the  alleged 
fact  on  which  the  objection  is  grounded,  has  been 
greatly  exaggerated.  And  we  have  also  shown  you, 
that  the  fact  being,  in  its  real  extent,  admitted,  does 
not  warrant  the  conclusion  drawn  from  it ;  because  the 
gospel  is  not  deficient,  in  its  nature  and  tendency,  to 
make  its  votaries  holy ;  and  because  it  has  actually  pro- 
duced the  most  beneficial  effects,  on  the  moral  dispo- 
sitions and  character  of  multitudes,  who  have  subjected 
themselves  to  its  governing  power  ;  and  has  even  exer- 
cised an  ameliorating  influence  on  those  who  came 
merely  within  the  sphere  of  its  general  and  indirect 
operation. 


240  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   11. 

But  all  this  should  not  make  us  insensible,  or  indif- 
ferent, to  that  particular  objection  which  we  have  thus 
considered  and  repelled.  It  should  be  our  concern  to 
remove  every  pretext  for  the  objection — to  do  every 
thing  which  can  uphold  the  credit  of  our  religion,  and 
to  do  nothing  of  which  advantage  maybe  taken  to  gain- 
say or  to  disparage  it.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  de- 
monstrate, however  clearly  and  convincingly,  the  un- 
fairness of  the  attack  which  is  made  upon  it  by  its  ad- 
versaries :  we  should,  moreover,  strive  to  wrest  from 
them  the  weapons  which  they  employ  for  its  injury  or 
its  destruction,  and  to  give  not  the  least  color  of  justice 
to  the  hostility  with  which  they  assail  it.  We  are 
called  upon,  by  every  motive  of  gratitude  to  the  Saviour, 
of  regard  to  the  divine  honor,  and  of  compassion  to  the 
souls  of  men,  who  must  be  saved  by  Cbristianity,  or  not 
be  saved  at  all,  to  abstain  from  all  those  actions  and  in- 
dulgences by  which  "  the  name  or  the  doctrine  of  God 
may  be  blasphemed."  This  is  the  exhortation  of  the 
apostle,  which  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  illustrate,  by 
pointing  out  the  way  in  which  it  is  to  be  complied  with, 
so  as  most  effectually  to  answer  the  end  for  which  it  is 
given. 

1.  And,  in  the  first  place,  we  exhort  you  never  to 
forget  that  the  gospel  is  a  practical  system.  It  tells  you 
of  many  things  interesting  in  themselves,  and  with 
which  it  is  important  for  you  to  be  well  acquainted.  It 
presents  to  you  various  subjects  of  pleasing  and  useful 
meditation.  It  reveals  doctrines  on  which  to  exercise 
your  faith — examples  which  you  are  called  to  contem- 
plate and  admire — events  which  may  excite  your  won- 
der, or  stimulate  your  curiosity,  or  increase  your  knowl- 
edge of  the  ways  of  providence — promises  on  which 
you  may  build  many  a  delightful  hope — and  assurances, 
from  which  you  may  derive  the  sweetest  consolation. 
And  a  religion  so  furnished  with  what  is  excellent  and 
momentous  and  delightful,  is  something  which  you  may 
deem  it  honorable,  and  even  find  it  advantageous,  to 
profess  before  the  world,  as  that  of  whose  truth  you 


SER.  11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  241 

are  convinced,  and  by  whose  power  you  expect  to  be 
redeemed.  But,  though  in  all  these  respects  it  can 
hardly  fail  to  have  some  influence  on  your  temper  and 
conduct,  still  its  influence  will  be  enlarged  and  secured 
if  you  habituall}^  bear  in  mind,  that  the  gospel  is  intend- 
ed, as  well  as  fitted,  to  sanctify  you ;  that  one  of  its 
leading  purposes  is  to  raise  you  from  the  debasement 
of  sin  ;  and  that  its  grand  end  cannot  be  accomplished 
upon  you,  unless  it  produce  in  you  a  conformity  to  the 
moral  law,  and  a  resemblance  to  the  moral  image  of 
God.  If  you  do  not  remember  these  things,  or  if  your 
impression  of  them  be  feeble,  indistinct,  or  desultory, 
then  all  that  you  have  learned  of  Christianity,  all  that 
you  see  in  it,  and  all  that  you  anticipate  from  it,  w^ill 
have  little  efficacy  in  promoting  your  superiority  to 
what  is  evil,  and  your  cultivation  of  what  is  good.  But 
by  having  that  impression  strong  upon  your  mind,  and 
by  having  it  ever  present  with  you,  the  whole  record  of 
the  gospel  will  prove,  at  all  times,  in  all  places,  and  in 
all  circumstances,  a  directory  to  guide  you,  a  law  to 
restrain  you,  and  a  motive  to  animate  you,  in  perform- 
ing your  work  of  righteousness  and  self-denial.  To 
whatever  part  of  it  your  attention  is  directed,  you  will 
derive  from  it  some  lesson  of  virtue — some  lesson  that 
will  be  of  service  in  deepening  your  humility,  in  warm- 
ing your  devotion,  in  invigorating  your  resistance  to 
temptation,  in  elevating  you  above  the  love  and  the  pol- 
hitions  of  the  world,  in  purifying  you  from  the  corrup- 
tions of  sense,  in  giving  more  integrity  to  your  dealings, 
more  cheerfulness  to  your  patience,  more  strictness  to 
your  sobriety,  more  ardor,  more  enlargement,  more  activ- 
ity to  your  benevolence.  Such  lessons  will  accompany  all 
your  thoughts  of  Christianity,  for  you  will  be  perpetually 
seeking  for  them,  and  you  can  never  fail  to  discover 
them  ;  and  they  will  come  home  to  you  with  constrain- 
ing force,  because  you  carry  along  with  you  the  prin- 
ciple, that  it  is  the  divine  purpose  of  Christianity  to 
teach  and  to  enforce  them.  When  you  turn  your  mind 
to  any  one  of  its  doctrinal  truths,  you  will  consider  that  it 
21 


242  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  11. 

is  not  only  to  be  believed,  but  that  it  is  to  make  you 
free,  in  some  respect  or  other,  from  the  dominion  of 
iniquity.  When  you  meet  with  any  precept,  you  will 
recollect  that  it  is  not  merely  a  proof  of  the  perfection 
of  that  morality  which  revelation  inculcates,  but  a  rule 
for  your  deportment  in  that  branch  of  holiness  to  which 
it  refers.  When  you  cast  your  eye  upon  the  delinea- 
tion of  a  character,  you  will  view  it  as  not  only  held  out 
to  attract  or  to  interest  you,  but  as  set  before  you  to 
warn  you  against  certain  offences,  or  to  recommend  the 
practice  of  certain  virtues.  When  any  promise  occurs 
to  you  as  comfortable  in  the  midst  of  distress,  it  v/ill  not 
only  shed  the  blessing  of  tranquillity  over  your  afflicted 
spirit,  but  it  will  bend  your  will  into  more  perfect  con- 
formity to  the  will  of  God,  and  stir  you  up  to  the  dis- 
charge of  every  duty  peculiar  to  a  season  of  trial  and 
suffering.  When  the  prospect  of  heaven  offers  itself  to 
your  view,  it  will  not  only  elevate  and  enliven  you  with 
hope,  but  it  will  excite  you  to  the  cultivation  of  that 
purity  of  affection  and  that  holiness  of  life,  which  con- 
stitute your  appointed  meetness  for  the  enjoyments  of 
the  celestial  world.  In  short,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
whole  range  of  the  gospel,  how^ever  minute  it  maybe, 
and  however  inconsiderable  and  unworthy  of  notice  it 
may  be  deemed  by  the  too  speculative  believer,  which 
will  not  speak  to  you  a  language  bearing,  in  one  way  or 
other,  on  your  improvement  in  "  whatsoever  things  are 
pure,  or  true,  or  lovely,  or  of  good  report."  And  thus, 
by  continually  reahzing  its  practical  character,  and  au- 
thority, and  extent,  it  will  exercise  a  ceaseless  and  uni- 
versal sw^ay  over  your  temper  and  conversation  and 
conduct:  it  will  produce  a  degree  of  watchfulness 
against  sin,  and  a  minuteness,  as  well  as  an  extent  of 
obedience,  which  could  not  otherwise  have  existed  ; 
and  it  will  cause  you  to  exhibit  such  a  holy  consistency 
of  behavior,  as  shall  command  the  respect  or  win  the 
forbearance  of  gainsayers,  for  that  religion  which  makes 
you  so  fruitful  in  every  good  word  and  work.     In  this 


SER.   11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  243 

way,  then,  see  that  you  prevent  "  the  name  and  the 
doctrine  of  God  from  being  blasphemed." 

2.  In  the  second  place,  with  the  same  view  we  ex- 
hort you  to  a  faithful  and  conscientious  discharge  of  the 
duties  which  belong  to  the  several  relations  in  which 
you  stand,  and  the  various  circumstances  in  which  you 
are  placed.  There  are  certain  duties  which  are  com- 
mon to  all  men,  whatever  be  their  particular  situations  : 
but  there  are  other  duties,  peculiar  to  the  condition  in 
which  individuals,  or  classes  of  individuals,  may  happen 
to  stand,  according  to  the  providential  arrangement  of 
their  lot.  Now  while  you  fulfil  the  former  with  all  dil- 
igence, let  me  entreat  you  to  be  specially  careful  to 
fulfil  the  latter  also,  with  scrupulous  and  irreproachable 
fidelity.  There  are  many  who  pay  a  decent,  and  per- 
haps exemplary  regard,  to  the  duties  which  are  common 
to  all,  but  who  are  found  much  less  strict  and  attentive 
in  the  performance  of  their  peculiar  duties.  And  herein 
they  not  merely  manifest  a  very  gross  and  injurious 
inconsistency,  but  by  the  total  neglect,  or  partial  ob- 
servance, of  those  moral  obligations,  which  are  usually 
of  most  consequence  to  society,  and  most  confidently 
expected  as  the  result  of  Christian  faith,  they  open  the 
mouths  of  its  enemies  and  give  them  occasion  to  speak 
evil  of  it.  Whereas,  would  believers,  w^hile  they  study 
a  general  conformity  to  its  precepts,  be  particularly 
strict  and  conscientious,  in  doing  whatever  is  incumbent 
on  them  in  the  different  stations  which  they  occupy, 
their  goodness  would  force  itself^  upon  the  notice  of  the 
most  careless,  and  secure  the  homage  of  the  most  in- 
veterate of  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel.  It  is  for  this 
reason  among  others,  that  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
are  never  contented  with  merely  inculcating  holiness  on 
men  generally,  or  in  terms  of  general  import.  They 
are  much  more  circumstantial  and  detailed  in  the  in- 
junctions which  they  issue  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
They  call  upon  Christians,  to  remember  the  relations 
which  they  bear  to  one  another,  and  to  the  world  around 
them  5  to  consider   the  dispositions  and   the  behavior 


244  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  11. 

these  specially  demand  from  them,  and  to  feel  and  act 
accordingly.     In  our  text,   for  example,  the   Apostle 
Paul  specifies  what  is   incumbent  on  Christian  servants, 
being  in  the  families  of  unbelieving  masters.     Persons 
in  that  sphere,  humble  as  it  is,  are  "set  for  the  defence 
of  the  gospel ;"  and  they  defend  it,*  when  they  avoid  all 
undutiful   conduct   in   their    subordinate    capacity,  and 
show  all  good  fidelity  to  those  who  are  over  them,  and 
take  care  that  nothing  in  their  conduct  as  servants,  give 
occasion  to  their  masters  to  form   an  unfavorable  opin- 
ion of  the  principles  they  profess,  and  the  name   by 
which  they  are  called.     And  the  principle  wdiich  is  im- 
plied in  this  exhortation  to  servants  is  equally  applicable 
to  masters.     They  also  have  their  peculiar  duties  ;  and 
in  their  capacity  as  masters,  an   obligation   is  laid   on 
them  to  recommend  the  religion  they  profess.   A  master 
wl^io  has  a  profession  of  religion  may  rest  assured,  that 
every  act  of  injustice,  oppression,   or  wickedness  on  his 
part,  is  calculated  to  have  a  most  unhappy  influence  on 
the  mind  of  his  servants  in  reference  to  the  gospel — to 
give  them  false  conceptions  of  its  nature  and  tendency, 
and  thereby  to  place  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of 
their  reception  of  its  message,  which  all  his   exactness 
in  the   discharge  of  the   other  duties  of  his  profession 
will  be  unable  to  remove.     In  the  same  manner,  and 
with  the  same  view,  we  may  address  the  exhortation  to 
individuals  in  all  the  various  relations  of  life — to  hus- 
bands and  wives,  to  parents  and  children,  to  rulers  and 
subjects,  to  neighbors    and    friends,  to   spiritual  shep- 
herds, and  the  flocks  over  whom  God  has  made  them 
overseers.     To  persons  in  each  of  these  relative  con- 
ditions, there  belongs  a  certain  class  of  duties ;  and  to 
the  performance  of  these  duties,  according  to  our  re- 
spective places  and  relations,  we  must  devote  ourselves 
with    singular  activity  and  care,  if  we    would  consult 
the  honor  of  Christianity,  and    ward  ofl"  from    it  the 
reproaches  of  worldly  and  unbelieving  men. 

Nor  is  this   all.     The  circumstances,  as  well  as  the 
relations  of  life,  come  under  the  government  of  the  rule 


SER.   11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  245 

we  are  considering.  If  you  are  poor,  and  In  your  pov- 
erty are  discontented,  idle,  and  envious ;  if  you  are 
rich,  and  amidst  your  riches,  are  proud,  and  worldly, 
extravagant,  and  niggardly;  if  you  are  sick,  and,  under 
the  pressure  of  sickness,  are  impatient  and  fretful;  if 
you  are  in  health,  and  unmindful  withal  of  your  liability 
to  disease  and  to  death  ;  if  you  are  in  prosperity,  and 
forgetful  of  the  vanity  of  all  that  is  in  the  world,  and  speak 
and  act  as  if  your  mountain  were  never  to  be  brought 
low,  and  as  if  your  cup  were  to  be  always  running  over ; 
if  you  are  in  adversity,  and  do  not  consider  whose  hand 
it  is  that  has  disappointed  and  reduced  you,  and  take 
unlawful  means  to  recover  your  lost  fortunes,  and  are 
as  much  disheartened  as  if  the  world  were  your  all ;  if 
you  are  possessed  of  power,  and  make  use  of  it  to  pro- 
mote your  own  aggrandizement,  and  are  haughty  and 
supercilious  to  your  inferiors,  and  forget  to  employ  your 
distinction  for  the  protection  of  the  injured  and  the  in- 
nocent ;  if  you  have  no  influence  and  no  authority  over 
others,  and  are  dissatisfied  that  you  are  destitute  of  such 
advantages,  and  cherish  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  and 
look  with  a  scowling  eye  on  those  who  wield  the  scep- 
tre of  dominion,  or  command  homage  by  their  talents  or 
their  station  ;  if  you  exhibit  these  sentiments  and  this 
conduct,  then  you  may  be  in  other  points  of  character, 
"  blameless  and  harmless  and  without  rebuke,"  but  the 
foes  of  Christianity  will  fasten  on  the  failings  and  offences 
with  which  you  are  thus  chargeable,  where  you  should 
have  been  particularly  ambitious  to  excel,  and  will 
mock  at  the  pretensions  of  a  religion,  which  leaves  its 
votaries  so  subject  to  corrupt  and  unholy  passions,  and 
so  like  those  by  whom  its  truth  is  unacknowledged,  and 
its  influence  unfelt.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  your 
conduct  corresponds  with  your  lot,  whatever  it  may  be ; 
if  you  would  manifest  those  graces  which  are  proper 
and  suitable  to  it ;  if,  in  the  variety  of  conditbns  through 
which  it  may  be  necessary  for  you  to  pass,  you  are 
adorned  with  those  virtues  which  they  severally  and 
successively  require  ;  if  in  want  vou  are  contented  and 


246  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  11. 

industrious;  if  in  abundance  you  are  humble  and 
heavenly-minded,  while  your  heart  deviseth  and  your 
hand  executeth  liberal  things ;  if  in  affliction  you  are 
patient  and  resigned  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God  ;  if 
in  bodily  health  and  outward  fortune,  all  is  well  and 
flourishing  with  you,  and  you  are  active  in  improving 
your  opportunities  of  usefulness,  and  are  sympathizing 
with  those  of  your  brethren  who  are  doomed  to  travel 
in  a  more  thorny  path  ;  and  if  you  are  "  using  the  w^orld 
and  not  abusing  it,"  recollecting  the  evanescent  nature 
of  its  fashions  and  its  joys;  if  invested  with  power  and 
influence  over  others,  you  employ  these  advantages  in 
guarding  them  from  oppression  and  injury,  and  in  pro- 
moting their  substantial  welfare  ;  if  obscure  and  lonely, 
you  have  more  to  do  with  obedience  than  with  com- 
mands, and  yet  grieve  not  that  it  is  so,  but  cheerfully 
acquiesce  in  the  arrangement  which  has  made  you  in- 
significant, and  are  ready  at  all  times  to  "  give  honor 
to  whom  honor  is  due,"  and  to  set  your  heart  on  that 
superiority  which  the  humblest  may  attain,  and  which 
consists  in  a  good  conscience  and  a  holy  life ;  if  you 
are  seen  acting  in  this  manner,  the  gospel,  by  whose 
operation  it  is  that  you  are  constrained  and  enabled  to 
show  forth  such  truly  and  minutely  appropriate  charac- 
ters of  excellence,  will  commend  itself  to  the  respect 
and  esteem  of  those  who  would  otherwise  have  accused 
it  of  moral  inefficiency,  and  who  would  have  made  your 
misconduct  the  handle  for  traducing  and  rejecting  it. 
In  this  way,  then,  be  entreated  to  labor,  that  "  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed." 

3.  In  the  third  place,  we  exhort  you  to  make  a  will- 
mg  sacrifice  even  of  certain  privileges  and  comforts, 
when  the  exigencies  of  the  case  require  it,  though,  in 
ordinary  circumstances,  you  would  be  warranted  in  re- 
fusing to  make  it  if  it  were  demanded.  "  Let  as  many 
servants  as  are  under  the  yoke,"  snys  the  apostle, 
"  count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the 
name  of  God  and  his  dootrihe  be  nut  blasphemed."  It 
was  a   common  allegation  at   the   commencement  of 


SER.  11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  247 

Christianity,  that  it  loosened  the  bonds  of  civil  life,  and 
relieved  those  who  embraced  it  from  obligations,  which 
are  essential  to  the  existence  and  welfare  of  society. 
And,  perhaps,  the  conduct  of  some  individuals,  pro- 
ceeding from  ignorance,  or  from  selfishness,  might  give 
some  color  and  plausibility  to  this  charge.  Now  the 
apostle  sets  himself  here,  as  in  other  parts  of  his  writ- 
ings, to  remove  this  cause  of  stumbling  and  offence,  by 
urging  Christians  not  only  to  be  fliithful  in  the  duties  of 
their  calling,  but  even  to  forego  advantages  which  they 
might  justly  claim,  in  order  that  the  credit  of  the  gospel 
might  not  suffer  at  their  hands.  At  the  period  referred 
to,  servants  were  universally  in  a  state  of  slavery,  they 
were  "  under  the  yoke"  as  it  is  here  expressed.  This 
was  a  violation  of  the  natural  and  essential  rights  of 
man  ;  and  implies  a  dominion  which  no  individual  of 
our  species  is  entitled  to  exercise  over  another.  But 
those  who  suffered  from  such  an  outrage,  were  not 
probably  aware  of  the  radical  injustice  and  monstrous 
evil  to  which  they  were  thereby  subjected.  When  the 
gospel,  however,  was  revealed  to  them — enlightening 
them  as  to  the  true  value  and  dignity  of  the  human 
soul — breathing  a  spirit  of  equity  and  love — and  incul- 
cating maxims  which  were  incompatible  with  the  bond- 
age of  a  single  rational  being — they  felt  the  desire  of 
liberty  spring  up  in  their  bosoms,  and  they  were  tempt- 
ed to  gratify  it,  by  abandoning  the  servitude  to  which 
they  had  hitherto  submitted.  And  in  doing  so,  they 
would  have  acted  agreeably  to  the  impulse  of  nature,  to 
the  dictates  of  reason,  to  the  pervading  tone  and  general 
principles  of  Christianity.  But  then  if  Christianity  was 
true,  as  they  believed  it  to  be,  and  if  it  was  of  infinite 
importance,  as  they  professed  to  regard  it,  their  personal 
immunities  and  comforts  should  not  be  put  in  competi- 
tion wuh  its  interests  and  prosperity,  and  prevalence 
m  the  world.  And,  therefore,  as  they  happened  to  be 
"  under  the  yoke,"  and  as  any  violent  attempt  to  gain 
their  freedom  would  be  employed  to  the  prejudice  of 


248  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  II. 

the  gospel,  and  might  increase  the  opposition,  already 
so  formidable,  to  its  progress  and  establishment,  the 
apostle  counselled  them  to  continue  as  they  were ;  and 
though  their  masters  were  holding  them  in  slavery,  and 
moreover  had  not  been  privileged  to  know  and  to  be- 
lieve "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  but  were  still  involved 
in  ignorance  and  error,  and  in  the  sight  of  God  far  be- 
low the  level  of  those  over  whom  they  tyrannised,  yet 
"  to  count  them  worthy  of  all  honor,"  to  obey  them  as 
heretofore,  to  execute  all  their  lawful  commands,  and 
to  do  nothing  that  could  give  unnecessary  offence. 

Now,  my  friends,  you  see  from  this  what  is  incum- 
bent on  you  all.  It  is  of  no  consequence  whether  you 
be  masters  or  servants,  whether  you  stand  in  one  rela- 
tion or  in  another.  The  principle  here  illustrated  com- 
prehends the  whole.  While  you  recollect  what  is  due 
to  yourselves,  you  must  recollect  still  more  what  is  due 
to  the  gospel.  Think  well  of  its  truth,  of  its  value,  of 
its  influence  on  human  happiness,  of  its  necessity  to 
man's  salvation,  of  the  enmity  it  has  to  encounter,  of 
the  obligations  you  are  under  to  support  it,  of  the  en- 
couragements you  have  to  do  much  and  to  endure 
much  for  its  prosperity.  Think  of  these  things,  and 
you  will  not  marvel  at  the  exhortation  given  by  the 
apostle  to  those  servants  who  were  "  under  the  yoke  ;" 
and  you  will  not  resist  the  exhortation  as  addressed  to 
you  in  that  application  of  its  meaning,  which  is  called 
for  by  your  several  and  peculiar  circumstances.  ^V'hich 
of  you  does  not  acknowledge  himself  bound  by  every 
strong  and  endearing  tie,  to  labor  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  gospel?  Which  of  you  can  hesitate,  for  this 
purpose,  to  cultivate  those  moral  virtues,  which,  in 
consequence  of  their  being  prescribed  by  the  divine 
lavv',  must  be  practised,  independently  of  their  effects 
on  the  belief  and  obedience  of  others  ?  And  which 
of  you  can,  consistently  with  his  Christian  privileges, 
his  Christian  profession,  his  Christian  experience,  re- 
fuse to  lay  his  all,  when  the  cause  of  the  gospel  requires 


SER.  11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  249 

it,  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  there  consecrate  it  to 
the  honor  of  that  holy  name  by  which  he  is  called,  and 
to  the  support  of  that  blessed  doctrine  which  maketh 
"  wise  unto  salvation  ?"  If  the  apostle  went  so  far  as 
to  exhort  those  who  were  "  under  the  yoke"  to  con- 
tinue without  murmuring,  to  drink  the  bitter  cup  of 
slavery,  surely  we  do  not  go  too  far  when  we  insist 
upon  your  exercising  all  those  acts  of  self-denial,  and 
offering  all  those  sacrifices,  which  can  possibly  be 
exacted  from  Christians  in  these  lands,  and  in  these 
days,  for  the  sake  of  their  religion.  And  the  effect  of 
such  generous  conduct  cannot  fail  to  be  most  bene- 
ficial, in  "putting  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  those 
foolish  men,"  who,  because  they  can  speak  of  you  as 
evil-doers,  would  speak  also  of  Christianity  as  consist- 
ent with  evil-doing.  It  is  well  when  they  see  you  dis- 
charging faithfully  and  diligently  those  duties  which  are 
taught  and  enjoined  in  the  moral  law,  or  which  are 
specified  in  the  preceptive  part  of  the  gospel.  But  it 
is  better  still,  when  they  see  you  taking  a  higher  and 
more  liberal  aim  ;  and  far  from  standing  on  rights 
which  human  authority  w^ould  vindicate  for  you,  and 
which  the  common  feelings  and  understanding  of  man- 
kind would  justify  you  in  seeking  and  asserting,  ready 
to  surrender  them  with  cheerfulness,  w^hen,  but  for  this 
surrender,  the  credit  of  religion  would  be  brought  into 
suspicion,  and  its  success  arrested,  or  its  influence 
impaired.  When  they  see  you  thus  disinterested,  and 
thus  munificent,  in  your  contendings  for  its  prosperity, 
they  not  only  believe  you  to  be  sincere  in  the  attach- 
ment which  you  profess  to  feel  for  it,  but  they  perceive 
it  to  be  a  powerful  and  efficacious  instrument  for  sub- 
duing all  the  selfish  passions  of  our  nature,  for  raising 
men  to  degrees  of  virtue  and  of  righteousness  which 
cannot  be  reached  under  the  direction  and  energy  of 
ordinary  motives,  and  for  forming  them  to  the  love  and 
the  pursuit  of  those  excellencies  which  are  equally 
ornamental  to  the  individuals  by  whom  they  are  culti- 


250  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   11. 

vated,  and  useful  to  the  society  whose  character  and 
whose  interests  they  are  calculated  to  affect.  So  that 
unless  their  hatred  towards  the  gospel  is  unquenchable 
and  unless  they  are  determined  to  show  their  hostility 
to  it  in  spite  of  the  most  powerful  recommendations  by 
which  it  can  be  pressed  upon  their  regard,  they  will 
not  only  treat  it  with  forbearance — they  will  not  only 
refrain  from  blaspheming  or  speaking  evil  of  it,  and 
laboring  in  that  way  to  counteract  its  influence  and  its 
progress  in  the  world,  but  they  may  also  be  led  to 
think  of  it  with  secret  reverence,  to  inquire  into  the 
more  direct  and  conclusive  evidences  of  its  divinity, 
and  to  deal  with  it  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  give  fair 
promise  of  becoming,  through  God's  blessing,  believers 
in  its  doctrine,  subjects  of  its  power,  and  promoters  of 
its  universal  propagation. 

I  should  now  proceed  to  exhort  you,  in  the  fourth 
place,  to  live  habitually  under  the  influence  of  thuse 
great  and  peculiar  principles  which  you  have  em- 
braced as  Christians,  and  which  are  both  intended 
and  fitted  to  produce  sanctifying  efTects  in  more  than 
on  ordinary  measure.  But  this  particular,  and  some 
others,  I  must  reserve  as  the  subject  of  another  dis- 
course. 

Let  me  now  conclude  with  reminding  you,  that 
though  you  are  to  labor  and  to  sacrifice  much,  in  order 
that  "  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed," this  must  not  be  regarded  as  the  sole,  nor 
even  the  chief,  motive  for  your  holy  walk  and  con- 
versation. Such  an  idea  would  produce  simulation 
and  hypocrisy — an  effect  which  would  not  only  render 
all  your  exertions  useless  as  to  yourselves,  but,  on 
being  detected,  would  defeat  the  object  you  had  in 
view,  and  increase  the  enmity,  and  add  to  the  triumphs 
of  the  adversaries  of  the  gospel.  Study  to  be  Chris- 
tians in  heart  and  in  reality.  Live  in  the  faith  of  Jesus, 
in  dependance  on  his  righteousness,  and  in  obedience 
to  his  will,  whether  men  see  you  or  not.     Labor  to 


SER.  11.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  251 

approve  yourselves  to  God,  and  to  prepare  for  immor- 
tality. And  think  only  of  the  good  and  of  the  evil 
which  yom'  conduct  is  capable  of  producing  on  the 
fortunes  of  Christianity,  that  you  may  have  one  motive 
more,  and  that  a  most  interesting  and  efficacious  mo- 
tive, for  determining  you,  to  deny  yourselves  to  every 
species,  and  every  degree,  and  every  appearance,  of 
sinful  indulgence,  and  for  exciting  you  to  strive  to  be 
righteous  before  God  and  before  men,  "  walking  in  all 
the  commandments,  and  in  all  the  ordinances  of  thQ 
Lord  blameless," 


SERMON  XIL 


THE   DUTY   OF    CHRISTIANS    IN    REFERENCE 

TO    THE   OBJECTION   FOUNDED   UPON 

THEIR    IMPERFECTIONS. 

1  TIMOTHY  vi.  1. 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count 
their  own  masters  ivorthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  hlasphemed,^^ 

After  showing  you,  at  considerable  length,  that  the 
misconduct  of  professing  Christians  forms  no  valid  ob- 
jection to  the  gospel  itself,  we  remarked  that  this  should 
not  make  us  indifferent  to  the  objection,  or  treat  it  as 
if  it  were  of  no  moment,  and  possessed  no  influence. 
On  the  contrary,  we  should  be  anxious  to  meet  the  ob- 
jection, by  removing  the  ground  upon  w^hich  it  is  made 
to  rest, — to  do  every  thing  which  can  uphold  the  credit 
of  our  religion,  and  to  do  nothing  of  which  advantage 
may  be  taken  to  gainsay  or  to  disparage  it.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  demonstrate,  however  clearly  and  con- 
vincingly, the  unfairness  of  the  attack  which  is  made 
upon  it  by  its  adversaries ;  we  should,  moreover,  strive 
to  wrest  from  them  the  very  weapons  which  they  em- 
ploy for  its  injury  or  its  destruction,  and  to  give  not  the 


SER.   12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  253 

least  color  or  appearance  of  justice  to  the  hostility  with 
which  they  assail  it.  We  are  called  upon  by  every 
motive  of  gratitude  to  the  Saviour,  of  regard  to  the 
divine  honor,  and  of  compassion  to  the  souls  of  men, 
who  must  be  saved  by  Christianity  or  not  be  saved  at  all, 
to  abstain  from  all  those  actions  and  indulgences  by 
which,  the  "  name  or  the  doctrine  of  God  may  be  blas- 
phemed." This  is  the  exhortation  of  the  apostle ;  and 
we  proposed  to  illustrate  it,  by  pointing  out  the  way  in 
which  it  is  to  be  complied  with,  so  as  most  effectually 
to  answer  the  end  for  which  it  is  given.  And,  in  pros- 
ecution of  this  object,  we  observed,  in  the  first  place, 
that  amidst  all  your  regards  for  the  gospel,  you  should 
never  forget,  that  it  is  a  practical  system,  designed  to 
produce  in  you  a  conformity  to  the  moral  law,  and  a 
resemblance  to  the  moral  image  of  God.  By  steadily 
regarding  it  in  this  light,  you  will  give  it  an  authority 
over  every  part  of  your  conduct,  and  effectually  dis- 
comfit the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  who  will  find  it  im- 
possible, from  any  thing  they  observe  in  you,  to  "  blas- 
pheme the  name  or  the  doctrine  of  God." 

In  the  second  place,  we  remarked,  that  you  should 
apply  yourselves  to  a  faithful  and  conscientious  dis- 
charge of  the  peculiar  duties  which  belong  to  the  sev- 
eral relations  in  which  you  stand,  and  to  the  various 
circumstances  in  which  you  are  placed.  You  must  not 
merely  be  holy  in  general,  but  you  must  be  holy  in 
your  particular  calling,  connexion,  or  condition ;  as 
masters  or  as  servants,  as  parents  or  as  children,  as 
rulers  or  as  subjects,  in  poverty  or  in  riches,  in  pros- 
perity or  in  adversity,  in  health  or  in  sickness.  In  this 
way  you  are  to  recommend  the  gospel,  by  displaying  its 
practical  worth  and  beneficial  moral  tendency,  by  de- 
monstrating that  it  is  not  a  scheme  of  speculative  opin- 
ions and  of  barren  faith,  but  a  system  of  substantial 
purity  and  genuine  excellence,  accommodated  to  man 
with  the  constitution  of  which  he  is  possessed,  and  in 
all  the  situations  in  which  he  can  be  placed.  Thus 
22 


254  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  12. 

also,  are  you  to  labor  that  "  the  name  and  the  doctrine 
of  God  be  not  blasphemed." 

We  remarked,  in  the  third  place,  as  more  particu- 
larly suggested  by  the  text,  that  you  must  make  a 
willing  sacrifice,  even  of  certain  privileges  and  com- 
forts, when  the  exigencies  of  the  case  require  it,  though, 
in  ordinary  circumstances,  you  would  be  warranted  in 
refusing  such  a  sacrifice,  if  it  were  demanded.  Such 
generous  and  disinterested  conduct  must  have  the 
effect,  not  only  of  removing  prejudices  against  the  gos- 
pel, but  of  producing  a  positive  impression  in  its  favor, 
by  showing  that  Christians,  w^hile  they  strive  to  submit 
to  its  practical  authority  in  every  thing,  are  also  willing 
to  yield  this  submission  at  the  expense  of  many  things 
which  injustice  they  might  successfully  claim,  and  inno- 
cently enjoy.  In  this  way,  then,  are  we  to  be  instru- 
mental in  preventing  "the  name  of  God  and  his  doc- 
trine from  being  blasphemed." 

4.  I  would  now,  in  the  fourth  place,  exhort  you  to 
live  with  a  habitual  reverence  to  those  great  and  pecu- 
liar principles  by  which  Christianity  is  distinguished  and 
characterised. 

Your  conduct,  indeed,  must  be  more  or  less  influ- 
enced by  these  principles,  or  you  would  not,  properly 
speaking,  be  Christians  at  all.  You  might  do  many 
things  which  are  in  the  letter  agreeable  to  God's  law, 
and  avoid  many  things  which  that  law,  in  its  letter,  for- 
bids ;  and  your  character  might  exhibit  w^hat  the  out- 
ward observer  would  pronounce  to  be  holy.  But  still, 
unless  all  that  you  thus  did  and  manifested,  proceeded 
from  those  considerations  which  are  peculiar  to  the  gos- 
pel, it  would  not  amount  to  the  holiness  which  that  dis- 
pensation is  intended  to  produce  in  its  votaries.  By 
Christian  principles,  then,  you  must,  if  Christians,  be 
habitually  actuated  and  governed. 

But  the  counsel  I  would  offer  you,  is  that  the  proper 
principles  of  the  gospel  be  fondly  cherished  by  you — 
be  kept  constantly  present  to  your  minds — and  be  ap- 
pealed and  yielded  to  at  every  step  of  your  pilgrimage. 


SER.   12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  255 

You  must  not  be  contented  with  having  merely  em- 
braced them — with  giving  them  the  homage  of  your 
understanding  and  your  heart  w^ien  they  become  the 
subjects  of  your  converse  or  meditation — with  defend- 
ing them  from  the  attacks  of  those  who  would  regard 
them  as  unscriptural  and  irrational — or  with  drawing 
from  them  the  blessings  of  hope  and  consolation. 
They  must  exercise  a  perpetual  mastery  over  your  de- 
sires and  your  doings.  Every  suggestion  whicli  they 
give,  must  be  received.  Every  action  to  which  they 
prompt,  must  be  performed.  Every  restraint  which 
they  impose,  must  be  submitted  to.  Every  sacrifice 
which  they  dictate,  must  be  made.  And  your  thoughts 
must  be  so  intensely  directed  to  them,  and  you  must  be  so 
unceasingly  conscious  of  their  operation,  and  you  must 
have  such  an  abiding  sense  of  their  excellence  and  im- 
portance, that  wherever  you  are,  and  in  whatever  you 
are  engaged,  you  will  experience  their  animating,  or 
their  controlling  power. 

You  may  be  well  acquainted  with  the  w^hole  range 
of  moral  duty,  and  may  be  able  to  say  at  once  what  it 
comprehends  and  what  it  excludes,  and  to  adduce 
evangelical  reasons,  for  doing  the  one,  and  not  doing 
the  other — and  all  this  may  produce  in  you  a  great  de- 
gree of  self-denial,  and  righteousness,  and  respectability. 
But  still  we  have  to  desiderate  the  unremitting  applica- 
tion of  Christian  principles,  which  will  not  only  serve  to 
make  you  holy  as  it  were  by  instinct,  but  will  impart 
an  energy  and  an  unction  to  your  holiness,  and  render 
it  far  more  substantial,  far  more  perfect,  and  far  more 
attractive.  We  not  merely  desire  to  see  a  real  con- 
nexion subsisting  between  those  principles  and  that 
holiness ;  but  we  desire  to  see,  moreover,  such  a  cher- 
ished consciousness  of  that  connexion,  as  that  the  for- 
mer may  be  sending  forth  incessantly  their  strongest 
influences  upon  the  latter,  and  pervade  every  depart- 
ment, and  regulate  every  action  of  the  life. 

Let  us  illustrate  this  view  of  the  subject  by  a  few 
examples.     If  the  victim  of  poverty  present  himself 


256  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.  12. 

before  you,  and  supplicate  your  aid,  you  know  it  to  be 
an  incumbent  duty  to  relieve  him  if  you  can :  and 
though  you  had  nothing  to  guide  or  govern  you  but  a 
scripture  precept,  you  would,  in  obedience  to  it,  per- 
form the  good  work.  But  would  not  you  perform  it 
more  readily,  and  more  cheerfully,  if  you  remembered 
"  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  though  he 
was  rich,  for  your  sakes  became  poor,  that  ye,  through 
His  poverty,  might  be  made  rich?"  And  would  not 
your  heart  glow  with  a  warmer  sympathy  still,  and 
would  not  your  alms  be  more  liberal,  and  would  not  a 
greater  tenderness  breathe  throughout  your  words  of 
compassion,  if  you  felt,  as  well  as  remembered,  the 
grace  of  the  Redeemer,  if  you  realized  Him  in  all  the 
depdi  of  his  condescension,  and  in  all  the  fulness  of 
his  mercy,  and  if  at  the  moment  when  your  charity 
was  implored  for  a  suffering  fellovA^-creature,  your 
heart  had  dwelling  in  it,  and  working  in  it,  the  faith, 
and  the  love,  and  the  admiration  of  a  suffering  Saviour? 
Again,  suppose  you  are  tempted  to  indulge  in  some- 
thing which  wears  the  aspect  of  sinfulness,  but  not  so 
decidedly  as  at  once  to  alarm  and  deter  you  :  it  would 
not  be  difficult  for  you  to  find  in  your  store  of  scriptural 
maxims,  and  in  yotir  general  convictions  of  right  and 
wrong,  sufficient  reason  for  abstaining  from  It.  But  had 
you  to  seek  for  these,  and  were  you  left  to  form  a  judg- 
ment after  deliberate  and  lengthened  consideration,  the 
temptation  might  have  subdued  you,  before  you  had 
come  to  a  decision,  or  at  least  your  preservation  might 
not  have  been  secured  without  a  dangerous  struggle. 
On  the  other  hand,  had  you  been  in  the  habit  of  contem- 
plating the  cross  of  Christ,  of  beholding  in  it  the  exceed- 
ing turpitude  of  sin,  which  requijed  his  death  to  expiate 
it,  of  considering  yourselves  as  bought  with  the  price 
of  his  precious  blood — then  the  case  would  not  have 
admitted  of  a  moment's  hesitation ;  your  conscience 
would  have  been  tender ;  you  could  not  have  borne  the 
thou,2;ht  of  "  crucifying  the  Lord  afresh ;"  and  you 
/►would  have  retreated  from  the  very  risk  of  sinning,  and 


SER.   12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  257 

from  the  very  "  appearance  of  evil,"  more  than,  on  other 
principles,  you  would  have  done  from  a  visible  and  un- 
equivocal transgression. 

Again,  were  there  some  course  of  duty  set  before 
you,  accompanied  with  difficulty,  and  danger,  and  dis- 
tress, acting  as  Christians  you  would  doubtless  enter 
upon  it,  and  persevere  in  it,  and  finish  it.  But  there 
would  be  little  liveliness  and  litde  vigor  in  your  exer- 
tions, while  you  took  merely  a  distant  or  a  desultory 
view  of  the  motives  which  should  stimulate  and  urge 
you  on.  If,  on  the  contrary,  your  minds  were  pre- 
viously familiar  widi  those  truths  in  the  history  of  re- 
demption which  must  powerfully  affect  the  springs  of 
mora]  action — if  you  nourished  in  your  bosom  the  idea 
of  God's  redeeming  love,  manifested  in  the  mission  and 
the  sacrifice  of  his  own  Son — if  you  were  accustomed 
to  look  up  to  him  as  propitiated,  and  reconciled,  and 
invested  with  all  the  benignity  and  affection  of  a  parent 
— if  a  sense  of  the  endearing  obligation  thus  laid  upon 
you,  w'ere  matter,  not  of  occasional,  but  of  daily,  hourly 
unceasing  experience — in  that  case,  with  what  alacrity 
would  you  undertake  the  duties  required  of  you  !  how 
delighted  would  you  be  to  have  them  as  the  means  of 
testifying  your  gratitude  and  devotedness  to  the  author 
of  your  mercies  !  what  zeal,  w^hat  fidelity,  what  activity, 
what  constancy  would  you  display  in  the  performance  of 
them  !  and  how  patiently  would  you  endure  all  the  suf- 
ferings you  had  to  bear  !  and  how  resolutely  would  you 
struggle  with  all  the  obstacles  that  opposed  your  progress 
in  the  paths  of  righteousness  ! 

Now,  if  a  habitual  reference  to  the  peculiar  principles 
of  the  gospel  be  calculated  to  produce  such  a  holy  effect, 
it  must  tend  directly  and  greatly  to  aid  the  object  of  the 
aposde's  exhortation.  It  will  do  so  in  a  twofold  w^ay. 
First,  it  will  secure  a  far  greater  degree  of  excellence 
in  the  character  of  Christians.  There  will  be  a  more 
decided  resistance  to  temptation,  and  a  more  scrupulous 
and  careful  abstinence  from  every  thing  that  partakes 
of  moral  delinquency.  There  will  be  a  more  conscien- 
^22 


258  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.    12. 

tious,  and  more  active,  and  more  assiduous  cultivation 
of  every  public  and  every  private  virtue.  There  v/ill 
be  a  higher  tone  of  feeling,  and  a  higher  style  of  acting, 
than  are  usually  exhibited,  even  among  those  who  are 
admired  and  commended  for  their  personal  worth. 
And  thus,  not  only  will  there  be  an  absence  of  those 
offensive  qualities — those  unbecoming  tempers — those 
unworthy  practices  which,  when  they  appear  in  pro- 
fessing Christians,  cause  "  the  name  and  the  doctrine 
of  God  to  be  blasphemed,"  but  there  will  be  a  display 
of  those  positive  excellencies — those  beauties  of  holi- 
ness, wliich  even  the  wicked  regard  with  some  portion 
of  reverence  and  esteem,  and  which  forbid  them  to 
speak,  or  to  think,  evil  of  that  system  with  which  they 
are  associated.  And,  secondly,  there  is  a  more  inti- 
mate connexion  established  between  Christianity  and 
Christians,  in  the  judgment  of  those  who  witness  their 
conduct.  If  Christians  refer  to  the  gospel,  merely  as  a 
system  of  morals,  they  are  not  doing  it  justice ;  and 
though  they  should  succeed  in  protecting  it,  in  that 
character,  from  the  reproach,  or  even  in  recommending 
it  to  the  adoption,  of  those  who  have  hitherto  opposed 
it,  they  would  not  thereby  act  fully  up  to  their  obliga- 
tions; for  in  that  limited  character,  it  is  not  the  gospel 
as  proceeding  from  the  wisdom  and  the  grace  of  God. 
But  when  they  are  seen  adorned  with  the  manifold 
attributes  of  moral  virtue — with  all  that  is  pure,  and 
lovely,  and  of  good  report ;  when  they  can  appeal  to 
the  peculiar  principles  of  Christianity,  as  the  source 
from  w^hich  such  distinctions  proceed  ;  and  when  the 
relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  is  made  apparent  and 
undeniable,  then,  not  only  are  the  mouths  of  gainsayers 
stopped,  but  they  are  taught  to  admire  Christianity  as 
a  system  of  sanctifying  truth,  as  well  as  a  system  of 
practical  duty,  and  viewing  it  as  calculated,  by  its  pe- 
culiar nature,  to  renovate,  to  purify,  to  ennoble,  frail 
and  fallen  man,  they  may,  by  the  divine  blessing,  be 
constrained  to  exchange  the  language  of  blasphemy  for 
the  accents  of  praise,  and  to  give  glory  to  God's  name 


SER.    12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  259 

which  is  holy,  and  to  believe  in  his  doctrine  which  is 
"a  doctrine  according  to  godliness,"  because  it  is  a 
doctrine  of  free  and  saving  grace. 

5.  In  the  fifth  place,  I  would  exhort  you  to  be  much 
given  to  the  exercise  of  prayer. 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  do  not  neglect  this  duty, 
because,  if  you  neglect  it,  you  are  not  the  real  disciples 
of  Jesus.  There  may  be  a  professor  of  Christianity, 
but  there  is  no  sincere  or  real  Christian,  who  is  a 
stranger  to  prayer — who  is  destitute  of  its  spirit,  or  by 
whom  it  is  practically  disregarded.  This  is  evident, 
both  from  its  own  nature  and  from  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  commanded  and .  enforced ;  and  experience,  as 
well  as  scripture,  demonstrates  the  necessity  of  its 
forming  a  regular  and  constituent  part  of  a  religious  life. 

But,  if  you  have  seriously  attended  to  the  connexion 
w^iich  subsists  between  prayer  and  practice,  and  to  what 
you  yourselves  must  have  felt  and  observed  in  reference 
to  it,  you  cannot  but  be  aware,  that  many  of  the  defects 
by  which  your  practice  has  been  marked,  have  arisen 
from  your  remissness  in  the  duty  of  prayer ;  that  the 
less  intercourse  of  this  kind  you  held  with  your  heavenly 
Father,  the  more  apt  have  you  been  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  temptation,  and  to  be  overcome  by  it;  that  it 
was  often  by  forgetting  to  go  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and 
to  supplicate  there  the  wisdom,  and  the  strength,  and 
the  blessing  which  you  needed,  that  you  were  over- 
taken in  those  faults  which  have  wounded  your  own 
conscience,  and  given  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  re- 
ligion to  blaspheme;  that,  in  short,  had  there  been  more 
devotion,  there  would  have  been  more  purity  of  mind, 
more  vigilance  against  the  snares  of  the  world,  more 
strenuous  endeavors  to  maintain  a  conscience  and  a  con- 
duct void  of  offence,  more  actual  and  abundant  attain- 
ments in  Christian  holiness. 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  how  a  failure  in  the  one 
should  be  necessarily  productive  of  failures  in  the  other 
department  of  your  Christian  calling.     Prayer  is  en- 


260  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   12. 

joined  as  plainly,  and  as  peremptorily,  as  any  moral 
virtue  which  you  are  called  to  practise.  It  is  pressed 
upon  you  by  similar  obligations  ;  it  is  recommended  by 
similar  motives  ;  it  issues  in  similar  resuhs.  It  is  as 
necessary  as  the  other,  to  form  the  aggregate  of  your 
obedience  to  God's  will  upon  earth,  and  of  your  pre- 
paration for  his  presence  in  heaven.  And  this  being 
the  case,  you  cannot  be  remiss  in  it,  or  forgetful  of  it, 
without  violating  what  you  owe  to  him,  as  your  Lord 
and  King.  But  withholding  submission  to  him  in  one 
thing,  naturally  leads  to  withholding  submission  to  him 
in  another.  The  claim  of  his  high  authority,  or  of  his 
redeeming  love  being  once  deliberately  resisted,  you 
become  a  more  easy  prey  to  sinful  allurements,  though 
they  beset  you  in  a  different  quarter,  and  lead  you  to 
partake  of  a  different  indulgence.  If  you  do  not  pray, 
though  God  commands  you,  and  beseeches  you  to  do 
so,  what  is  there  to  restrain  you  from  transgression  in 
something  else,  if  you  be  tempted  to  it,  where  there  is 
no  other  barrier,  or  no  barrier  more  impassable  than 
that  which  you  have  already  violated — the  command- 
ment and  the  entreaty  of  a  great  and  merciful  God. 
Be  assured,  my  friends,  that  all  the  principles,  and  all 
the  practices  of  moral  obedience,  or  of  spiritual  submis- 
sion to  the  divine  will,  are  so  intimately  and  closely 
linked  together,  that  you  cannot  dispense  with  one  of 
them  without  being  thereby  more  easily  persuaded  to 
surrender  another.  The  whole  is  a  sacred  and  con- 
nected territory,  and  if  you  allow  the  tempter  to  invade 
aiid  to  establish  himself  in  any  corner  of  it,  you  facili- 
tate his  conquest  of  any  position  he  may  choose  to 
attack,  or  wish  to  occupy.  Prayer  is  as  much  a  duty 
as  any  thing  else  that  is  required  of  you  in  the  law  of 
God  ;  and  to  neglect  it,  implies  a  disregard  of  those 
principles  and  motives  which  secure  the  performance  of 
every  other  duty,  and  therefore  prepares  the  way  for 
neglecting  any  observance  which  interferes  with  our 
worldly  interest  or  worldly  pleasure. 


SER.   12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  261 

But  farther,  prayer  is  an  instituted  means  of  becom- 
ing, and  continuing,  holy.  You  cannot  keep  yourselves 
from  sin,  or  secure  your  progress  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness,  by  any  resources  of  your  own.  This  is 
one  melancholy  feature  of  your  fallen  state — declared 
in  the  scriptures  of  truth,  and  evinced  in  every  man's 
personal  history.  And  we  have  reason  to  bless  God, 
that  while  the  gospel  acknowledges  the  fact,  the  gospel 
also  makes  suitable  provision  for  remedying  the  evil 
which  it  implies.  It  promises  to  supply  the  want  by 
imparting  the  strength  that  is  needed.  It  points  out  the 
source  from  which  the  requisite  aid  is  to  be  derived. 
And  it  distinctly  intimates  that  prayer  is  the  instrument 
by  which  you  are  to  apply  for  it,  and  the  medium 
through  which  you  are  to  obtain  it.  Now,  if  in  this 
point  you  be  careless  and  negligent,  what  can  be  the 
result,  but  a  proportional  declension  in  the  ways  of  holi- 
ness? If  the  appointed  means  be  not  adequately  em- 
ployed, how  can  you  expect  to  secure  the  end  which  is 
offered  only  on  these  terms.'*  And  I  do  not  merely,  in 
this  view,  insist  on  the  necessity  of  general  supplica- 
tion, as  if  that  were  sufficient — as  if  it  were  quite 
enough  to  be  sensible  of  general  weakness  in  the  spirit- 
ual frame,  and  to  offer  up  a  general  petition  for  the 
communication  of  corresponding  strength.  It  is  proba- 
bly from  this  mode  of  indulging  in  generalities  on  the 
subject,  that,  even  where  individuals  are  regular,  and 
frequent,  and  fervent  in  their  devotions,  there  is  so  much 
backsliding,  and  so  little  progress.  If  you  have  a  par- 
ticular duty  to  perform,  and  yet  do  not  ask  grace,  and 
direction,  and  help,  in  reference  to  that  particular  duty, 
no  wonder  that  there  is  a  failure  in  the  degree  of  purity 
and  perfection  with  which  you  discharge  it.  And,  if 
you  be  tempted  to  any  particular  sin,  and  yet  do  not 
implore  appropriate  guidance  and  aid,  so  that  you  may 
be  enabled  to  avoid  that  particular  sin,  it  cannot  be 
greatly  marvelled  at,  that  you  should  be  betrayed  into 
the  commission  of  it.  In  this  manner,  neglect  of 
prayer,  or  an  undue  observance  of  it,  as  a  means  or- 


262  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   12. 

dained  by  Him,  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  for  guarding 
us  against  transgression,  and  carrying  on  the  process  of 
sanctification  with  vigor  and  success,  must  be  attended 
with  many  of  those  moral  failings  and  aberrations  which 
bring  disrepute  on  our  religion,  as  well  as  impair  the 
character,  and  disturb  the  peace,  of  those  who  are 
guilty  of  them. 

There  is  still  another  consideration  illustrative  of  this 
point  which  deserves  attention.  A  life  of  prayer  is 
calculated,  in  its  own  nature,  to  purify  the  heart  and 
elevate  the  character.  In  the  course  of  that  life  you 
spend  much  time  in  communion  with  that  Being  who  is 
"  glorious  in  holiness" — in  contemplating  his  perfec- 
tions, which  are  all  in  league  against  sin — in  referring 
to  his  will  which  has  declared  itself  "  against  all  un- 
righteousness, and  ungodliness  of  men" — in  appealing 
to  that  revelation  of  his  mercy  in  the  gospel,  which  so 
illustrates  his  hatred  of  iniquity,  and  his  love  of  moral 
excellence,  in  the  scheme  which  it  unfolds  for  your  de- 
liverance from  the  one  and  your  restoration  to  the  other. 
And  in  coming  from  your  devotional  intercourse  with 
God,  you  come  as  it  were  from  heaven,  where  all  that 
you  have  seen,  and  all  that  you  have  learned,  and  all 
that  you  have  felt,  is  holy ;  where  the  atmosphere 
which  you  breathed  is  purity  itself;  and  where  you 
were  furnished  with  the  spirit  that  shall  lift  you  above 
the  corruptions  of  the  world,  and  animate  you  to  the 
cultivation  of  all  that  is  virtuous  and  good.  But  if  you 
allow  yourselves  to  be  perpetually,  or  disproportionately, 
occupied  with  worldly  things,  with  sensible  objects,  with 
common  duties,  detached  from  the  influence  and  the 
exercises  of  devotion — if  you  be  maintaining  much  con- 
verse with  the  creature,  of  whom  imperfection  and  sin 
are  characteristic,  and  little  with  the  Creator,  whose 
nature,  and  character,  and  purposes,  and  plans,  are  all 
distinguished  by  unspotted  purity  and  rectitude — it  can- 
not fail  to  happen  that  your  conduct  will  partake  of  the 
qualities  of  that  to  which  you  have  given  such  an  undue 


SER.  12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  263 

preference,  that  there  will  not  be  such  a  scrupulous  and 
determined  resistance  to  the  allurements  of  sin,  as  more 
devotional  habits  would  have  secured,  that  there  will 
not  be  the  same  relish  for  high  attainments  in  virtue,  and 
the  same  eager  and  animated  efforts  to  become  "  holy 
even  as  God  himself  is  holy,"  that  there  will  be  more 
of  those  short-comings  and  trespasses  which  give  a  han- 
dle to  the  blasphemer,  and  fewer  of  those  amiable 
graces,  and  unequivocal  excellencies,  of  deportment, 
which  might  have  checked  his  blasphemy,  or  converted 
it  into  praise. 

We  exhort  you,  therefore,  in  whatever  situation  you 
are,  and  whatever  be  the  advances  you  have  made  in 
your  Christian  course,  to  be  "  instant  in  prayer," — to 
"  pray  without  ceasing," — "  in  every  thing  by  prayer 
and  supplication,  with  thanksgiving  to  make  your  re- 
quests known  unto  God."  This  will  help  to  purify  all 
the  springs  of  conduct — to  elevate  your  views  and 
affections  above  every  thing  base  and  polluted,  Tt  will 
procure  for  you  from  on  high  "  the  whole  armor  of 
God,"  by  which  you  will  be  protected  from  the  assaults 
of  temptation,  and  enabled  to  subdue  the  enemies  that 
would  drive  or  seduce  you  from  the  ways  of  righteous- 
ness. And  thus,  by  its  indirect  influence,  and  the 
divine  help  which  it  procures,  it  will  enable  you  to  act 
habitually,  so  that  through  you  "  the  name  of  God,  and 
his  doctrine  shall  not  be  blasphemed." 

6.  In  the  last  place,  we  exhort  you  to  live  habitually 
under  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come. 

So  much  and  so  intimately  are  we  connected  with 
this  world,  that  nothing  can  deliver  us  from  it,  or  lift  us 
above  it,  but  the  faith  which  carries  our  views  into  a 
future  world,  and  brings  before  us  its  great  and  mo- 
mentous realities.  And  it  uniformly  happens,  that  in 
proportion  as  we  neglect  to  give  our  faith  that  direc- 
tion, or  rest  satisfied  with  a  feeble  or  a  partial  exercise 
of  it,  in  that  proportion  do  we  languish  in  our  Christian 
efforts,  and  allow  sin  to  regain  its  ascendancy  over  us. 


264  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   12. 

Every  one  of  us  must  have  observed  this  in  the  case  of 
others.  Every  one  must  have  experienced  it  in  his 
own  case.  It  arises  from  the  very  nature  and  circum- 
stances of  human  beings.  And  though  the  behever  is 
rescued  from  the  dominion  of  iniquity,  and  of  this 
present  evil  world,  yet  it  is  a  part  of  the  salvation 
wrought  out  for  him,  that  his  views  are  directed  to 
eternity ;  and  his  conduct  will,  in  a  great  measure,  de- 
pend on  the  frequency  and  the  intensity  with  which  he 
looks  forward  to  it,  and  on  the  submissiveness  with 
which  he  yielded  to  that  practical  influence  which  it  is 
fitted  to  exert  upon  his  whole  deportment.  Of  the  nu- 
merous instances,  in  which  you  have  indulged  in  for- 
bidden gratification,  or  transgressed  the  rule  of  duty, 
there  are  not  a  few,  I  am  confident,  in  which  were  you 
asked,  why  you  thus  sinned,  you  would  answer,  be- 
cause, for  the  time,  you  had  banished  futurity  from 
your  view,  and  did  not  think,  as  you  ought  to  have 
thought,  of  the  strict  account  you  have  to  render,  and 
of  the  everlasting  destiny  which  awaits  you. 

Let  me,  then,  entreat  you  to  retain,  and  to  cherish  in 
your  minds,  a  settled  impression  of  eternity.  Remem- 
ber that  you  have  to  undergo  a  great  change,  and  to 
encounter  a  solemn  reckoning  at  the  tribunal  of  a 
righteous  and  heart-searching  Judge.  Remember  that 
you  have  to  answer  for  "  the  deeds  done  in  the  body, 
whether  they  be  good  or  bad."  Remember  that  your 
responsibility  embraces  not  only  your  conduct  consid- 
ered in  itself,  but  also  as  it  affects  the  conduct  and  the 
fate  of  your  fellow-men,  and  the  interests  of  the  gospel 
\n  a  present  state.  And  let  these  things  awaken  in  you 
a  solemn  concern,  not  merely  that  you  may  be  pre- 
pared by  a  life  of  faith,  and  piety,  and  holiness,  for  the 
great  scene  that  lies  before  you,  but  that  you  may  ab- 
stain from  even  the  slightest  transgression  which  would 
either  lay  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  a  Christian 
brother,  or  prove  a  ground  of  offence  and  of  blasphem- 
ing to  "  them  that  are  without."     Think  of  tlie  hell 


SER.   12.  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  2G5 

which  awaits  the  wicked,  that  you  may  see  what  "  an 
evil  and  a  bitter  thing  it  is  to  sin  against  God,"  since  it 
leads  him  to  condemn  many  of  his  rational  creatures 
who  have  committed  it,  and  have  not  had  it  washed 
away,  to  unspeakable  and  never-ending  misery ;  and 
seeing  that  the  ways  and  the  issue  of  it  are  death,  that 
you  may  tremble  at  his  word,  and  keep  yourselves  from 
the  abominable  thing  which  he  hates  with  so  perfect  a 
hatred.  Think  of  the  heaven,  into  which  they,  that 
have  turned  unto  the  Lord,  and  have  walked  in  tho 
ways  of  his  commandments,  are  finally  introduced, 
that  from  the  contemplation  of  all  the  holiness  and  hap- 
piness which  it  presents  to  the  believer's  eye,  you  may 
derive  that  divine  influence  which  shall  reach  into  your 
heart,  and  pervade  all  your  actions,  and  hedge  you  in  to 
the  path  of  cheerful  and  devoted  obedience,  and  lead 
you  to  "  purify  yourselves  even  as  God  himself  is 
pure."  Think  of  the  shortness  and  the  uncertainty  of 
life,  of  which  not  merely  every  passing  year,  but  every 
passing  day,  affords  you  the  most  striking  proofs,  that 
you  may  not  be  tempted  to  lose  one  opportunity  that  is 
afforded  you  for  performing  the  work  of  righteousness 
— that  you  may  be  determined  to  redeem  the  time 
which  you  have  already  wasted,  that  you  may  not 
spend  one  moment  more  in  forbidden  indulgence — 
that,  neither  in  word  nor  in  deed,  you  may  be  the 
occasion  of  exposing  the  doctrine  of  God  to  ridicule 
or  reproach — that  you  may  justify  your  highest  pro- 
fession by  the  purest  practice,  and  "  let  your  light  so 
shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works, 
and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  And, 
my  brethren,  living  thus  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, 
consecrating  yourselves  to  that  service  of  His  in  which 
sin  and  Satan  have  no  share,  and  contributing  to  the 
diffusion  and  the  establishment  of  the  gospel  of  salva- 
tion, every  coming  day,  as  it  arrives,  will  find  you 
ready  for  your  departure,  because  it  will  find  you  walk- 
ing as  the  redeemed  and  the  sanctified  of  the  Lord ; — 
23 


266  CHRISTIAN    OBLIGATIONS.  SER.   12. 

and  whether  you  be  servants  or  masters,  rich  or  poor, 
young  or  old,  mighty  or  mean,  yet,  having  "  kept  the 
faith,"  and  "finished  your  course,"  and  proved  a 
blessing  to  many  that  were  ignorant  and  perishing, 
death,  be  it  lingering  or  be  it  sudden,  shall  only  re- 
move you  from  a  scene  that  is  restless  and  polluted, 
to  that  land  of  purity  and  of  bliss,  where  "  they  that 
are  wise  shall  shine  as  the  firmament,  and  they  that 
have  turned  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever." 


SERMON    XIIL* 


ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER. 

MATTHEW  vii.  7. 

"  Askj  and  it  shall  he  given  you.^^ 

We  have  frequently  addressed  you  on  the  subject  of 
prayer  ;  but  in  the  present  discourse  we  propose  merely 
to  illustrate  some  of  the  encouragements  that  are  afford- 
ed for  engaging  in  this  exercise. 

God  commands  us  to  pray  to  him ;  not  leaving  it  to 
our  own  discretion  whether  we  shall  pray  or  not — but 
positively  and  expressly  enjoining  the  duty  as  requisite, 
equally  as  an  act  of  homage  due  to  himself,  and  as  the 
means  of  securing  our  own  welfare.  But  though  con- 
vinced that  we  must  pray,  if  we  would  render  obedience 
to  the  divine  authority,  and  promote  the  safety  and 
well-being  of  our  souls,  still  there  are  various  consider- 
ations to  which  it  is  expedient  to  attend,  and  under 
whose  constraining  influence  it  is  necessary  to  act,  in 
order  that  we  may  engage  in  that  exercise  freely, 
cheerfully,  and  confidently — that  we  may  enjoy  all  the 

*  Preached  in  St.  George's  Church,  Edinburgh,  on  Sabbath,  7th  No- 
vember, 1830,  before  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 


268  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   13. 

satisfaction  and  pleasure  with  which  it  ought  to  be 
accompanied — and  that  we  may  completely  surmount 
those  hindrances  and  interruptions,  which  not  only  tend 
to  distress  the  young  and  inexperienced  Christian,  but 
even  have  the  effect  of  occasionally  impairing  the  devo- 
tion of  those  who  are  most  confirmed  in  the  ways  of 
piety.  It  is  to  the  considerations  in  question  that  we 
mean  at  present  to  direct  your  thoughts,  in  the  hope 
that  they  may  contribute  to  your  improvement  in  a 
most  important  branch  of  the  Christian  character,  and 
that  they  may  derive  both  illustration  and  force  from 
the  solemn  service  in  which  we  are  this  day  to  be  more 
immediately  engaged. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  the 
God  to  whom  you  pray  is  as  willing  and  ready,  as  he 
is  able,  to  bestow  upon  you  the  blessings  that  you  need 
and  ask. 

Of  his  power  to  answer  your  prayers,  it  is  impossible 
for  you  to  doubt.  He  is  absolute  proprietor  of  the 
universe.  Every  thing  in  it,  material  and  immaterial, 
is  at  his  sovereign  disposal.  And  he  can  give  it  in  the 
measure,  and  in  the  mode,  and  in  the  season,  that  seem 
good  in  his  sight.  All  this  your  minds  admit,  without 
the  least  hesitation.  But  whether  he  may  be  pleased 
to  exert  his  omnipotence  in  communicating  what  you 
entreat  of  him,  is  a  different  question.  And  when  you 
think  of  the  separation  which  sin  has  made  between 
you  and  him  ;  when  you  look  to  him  as  a  holy,  and  a 
just,  and  a  jealous  God  ;  and  when  you  tliink  of  the 
demerit  which  he  sees  in  your  character,  and  of  the 
provocations  by  which  you  have  awakened  his  dis- 
pleasure, and  given  him  reason  to  send  you  a  curse 
instead  of  a  blessing — it  is  not  unnatural  for  you  to  feel 
as  if  he  would  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  your  supplications,  and 
to  ask  a  supply  to  your  wants,  if  you  ask  it  at  all,  with 
the  chilling  apprehension  that  it  will  either  be  wholly 
refused,  or  granted  with  a  frown. 

Now,  let  me  assure  you,  my  believing  friends,  that 
all  such  ideas  are  groundless  and  unworthy — that  they 


SER.   13.         ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  269 

proceed  from  most  mistaken  views  of  that  Being  to 
whom  your  prayers  are  addressed — and  that  whenever 
they  intrude  into  your  minds,  they  ought  to  be  instantly 
banished,  as  not  less  dishonorable  to  God,  than  they 
are  injurious  to  your  own  comfort.     For, 

First,  The  very  circumstance  of  God's  commanding 
you  to  pray,  implies  in  it  an  assurance  that  he  will  listen 
to  your  prayer.  You  cannot  suppose,  that,  in  enjoining 
upon  you  such  an  application  to  him,  he  is  mocking  and 
trifling  with  you,  making  an  empty  display  of  his  au- 
thority, and  sporting  with  your  feelings,  and  your  ex- 
pectations, and  your  necessities.  The  inconsistency 
which  this  supposition  involves  may  be  displayed  by 
sinful  and  capricious  man  ;  but  it  can  have  no  place  in 
the  dealings  of  God  with  his  creatures.  There  is  an 
untainted  honor,  and  there  is  a  perfect  consistency,  in 
all  his  doings,  w^iich  forbid  the  very  thought.  In  that 
general  attribute  of  goodness,  and  more  especially  in 
that  particular  exercise  of  it  which  is  denominated 
mercy,  and  which  is  ascribed  to  him  in  his  treatment  of 
the  destitute  and  the  miserable,  you  might  discover 
something  like  a  ground  which  would  warrant  you  to 
hope  that  your  prayers  will  be  heard  and  answered. 
But  when  you  recollect,  that,  besides  this,  he  actually 
holds  out  his  mercy  as  that  for  whose  communications 
you  not  only  may,  but  must  in  duty,  beseech  him,  the 
ground  of  hope  assumes  a  broader  aspect — a  more  sure 
and  stable  form.  You  cannot  but  be  sensible,  that,  in 
the  very  language  in  which  he  bids  you  ask  of  him 
what  you  need,  he  pledges  himself  to  give  it  without 
fail,  and  without  reluctance.  And  this  pledge  is  as  ex- 
tensive as  is  the  commandment, — reaching,  therefore, 
throughout  the  whole  range  of  your  wants,  and  em- 
bracing in  it  every  individual  benefit  that  is  necessary 
to  your  happiness.  When  he  requires  you  to  ask,  he 
does  not  limit  you  to  one  or  more  of  the  good  things 
which  are  indispensable  to  the  improvement  of  your 
character,  or  to  the  fulness  of  your  joy.  His  requisi- 
tion includes  them  all;  and,  consequently,  you  may  be 
*23 


270  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   13. 

satisfied — for  it  cannot  be  otherwise — that  he  is  ready 
to  bestow  them  all. 

2.  But  God  does  not  leave  you  to  any  thing  like 
mere  inference  on  this  point :  and  I  have  drawn  your 
attention  to  the  consideration  now  stated,  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  you,  that  even  from  the  sterner 
view  in  which  God  presents  himself  to  his  people, — 
that  of  a  lawgiver  and  a  ruler, — they  may  draw  en- 
couragement to  pray  in  the  spirit  of  liberty.  He  does 
not,  I  say,  leave  you  to  any  thing  like  mere  inference 
on  this  point.  He  condescends  to  make  explicit  de- 
clarations of  his  willingness  to  fulfil  the  desires  and  pe- 
titions of  your  hearts,  and  he  expresses  this  willingness 
in  the  language  of  unequivocal  promise — of  distinct  and 
positive  assurance.  Of  this  you  meet  with  multiplied 
and  satisfying  proofs  in  his  holy  word.  His  word, 
indeed,  may  be  justly  said  to  be  one  continued  proof  of 
it.  For  while  there  are  many  passages  in  which  prayer 
and  promise  are  explicitly  conjoined,  every  instance  in 
which  God  intimates  his  readiness  to  give  blessings  to 
his  people,  though  it  be  not  expressly  connected  w^th 
prayer,  is  to  be  regarded  as  having  the  same  meaning 
as  if  it  were ;  because  it  is  the  doctrine  of  scripture, 
and  what  no  Christian  can  forget,  that  every  blessing 
he  receives,  presupposes  prayer  as  the  appointed  means 
of  obtaining  it.  Well,  therefore,  may  we  assert,  that 
the  Bible  is  full  of  divine  testimony  to  this  statement 
that  God's  ear  is  ever  open  to  your  cry,  and  that  his 
hand  is  ever  ready  to  convey  to  you  the  blessings  that 
you  need  and  solicit. 

And,  if  I  must  quote  anj^  particular  part  of  the  sacred 
volume  to  illustrate  the  reality  and  the  extent  of  God's 
willingness  to  answer  prayer,  I  would  remind  you  of 
these  words,  (Matt.  xxi.  22.)  "  All  things  whatsoever 
ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive." 
These  are  words  addressed  to  you  from  heaven,  by  the 
mouth  of  Him,  who  is  appointed  to  reveal  to  you  the 
mercy  and  the  will  of  God,  and  in  whom  you  have 
placed  your  confidence  as  "  the  faithful  and  true  wit- 


SER.   13.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  271 

ness."  They  proclaim,  in  emphatic  terms,  the  abso- 
lute certainty  of  your  receiving  from  him,  to  whom  you 
direct  your  prayer,  the  things  that  you  ask.  And  they 
are  of  the  most  generous  and  comprehensive  import,  as 
to  the  number  and  variety  of  those  blessings  which  you 
are  entitled  to  supplicate,  or  may  expect  to  obtain. 
Not  that  you  can  either  ask,  or  look  for,  any  thing  that 
fancy,  or  caprice,  or  ignorance,  or  corrupt  inclination 
may  dictate  or  suggest.  Such  things  are,  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  excluded.  Whatever  you  ask  must 
be  that  which  God  warrants  or  permits  you  to  ask,  as 
being  directly  conducive  or  really  necessary  to  your 
attainment  of  that  salvation  and  that  felicity  to  which  he 
teaches  you  to  aspire.  But  there  is  no  moral  quality, 
no  spiritual  comfort,  no  possession  of  any  kind,  which 
comes  widiin  that  description,  that  you  may  not  ask ; 
nay,  that  you  ought  not  to  ask.  And  if  you  ask  it,  the 
petition  finds  a  response  in  the  mind  of  that  compas- 
sionate Being  who  "  giveth  to  all  men  liberally  and  up- 
braid eth  not,"  and  will  infallibly  secure  for  you,  sooner 
or  later,  in  its  suitable  degree,  and  as  to  all  its  proper 
effect,  the  particular  benefit,  whatever  it  is,  for  which 
you  have  applied.  God  himself  tells  you  this;  and  it 
argues  an  unbelieving  heart,  when  you  allow  any  sus- 
picion to  arise  within  you  that  he  will  not  fulfil  what  he 
has  so  graciously  promised.  His  willingness  is  so 
strongly  proclaimed,  and  so  frequently  repeated,  and  so 
closely  associated  with  all  that  is  true  and  holy  in  his 
character,  that  you  should  feel  as  much  assured  of  it, 
as  if  you  already  possessed  and  enjoyed  the  mercies 
which  as  yet  you  have  only  implored — agreeably  to  the 
statement  of  the  apostle  John  ;  "  This  is  the  confidence 
that  we  have  in  him,  that  if  we  ask  any  thing  according 
to  his  wmII,  he  heareth  us  ;  and  if  we  know  that  he  hear 
us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have  the  pe- 
titions that  we  desired  of  him." 

There  is  another  declaration  made  by  our  Lord  in 
his  valedictory  discourse,  which  very  strikingly  illus- 
trates the   same  truth,   (John  xvi.  26,  27.)    ''  At  that 


272  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   13, 

day,  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name ;  and  I  say  not  unto  you, 
that  I  will  pray  the  Father  for  you ;  for  the  Father 
himself  loveth  you,  because  ye  have  loved  me,  and  have 
believed  that  I  came  out  from  God." — "I  say  not  unto 
you,  T  will  pray  the  Father  for  you" — as  if  my  inter- 
cession were  necessary  to  extort  from  God,  wiiat  he  is 
otherwise  reluctant  to  give,  or  determined  to  withhold. 
He  has,  indeed,  appointed  that  intercession  as  a  con- 
stituent part  of  the  scheme  by  which  you  are  redeemed, 
and  as  it  will  not  be  forgotten  by  me,  so  neither  can  it 
be  disregarded  by  you.  But  it  is  itself  an  institution  of 
divine  grace.  It  is  an  indication  of  that  love  of  God 
which  prompts  him  to  give  you  all  things  pertaining  to 
life  and  godliness.  And  being  believers  in  me  as  hav- 
ing come  from  him,  and  having  loved  me  as  his  Son 
and  your  Saviour,  you  are  the  objects  of  his  peculiar 
affection.  He  loves  you  as  his  own  by  the  most  en- 
dearing tie.  He  has  devised  a  plan  by  which  he  may 
righteously  and  richly  shower  down  upon  you  the  most 
invaluable  blessings.  And,  when  I  plead  your  cause 
with  him,  and  supplicate  for  you  and  your  need,  I  ad- 
dress myself  to  my  Father  and  your  Father — one  whose 
thoughts  towards  you  are  already  thoughts  of  love,  who 
regards  you  with  overflowing  kindness,  and  will  delight 
in  doing  you  good.  You  have  no  reason,  therefore,  to 
fear  a  cold  reception,  or  a  stern  denial  of  your  requests. 
Abundant  reason  have  you,  on  the  contraiy,  to  pray 
without  doubting,  and  without  reserve,  for  whatsoever 
you  stand  in  need  of.  "  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive, 
that  your  joy  may  be  full." — It  w^as  thus  that  our  Lord 
cheered  and  encouraged  his  more  immediate  disciples 
in  the  matter  of  prayer.  And  the  same  arguments  I 
am  called  upon  to  urge,  for  the  same  purpose  upon 
you  who,  like  them,  love  and  beheve  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  You  are  the  objects,  as  were  they,  of  the 
Father's  tender  and  affectionate  regards ;  and  through 
all  the  clouds  which  have  risen  upon  your  view,  and 
veiled  the  throne  at  which  you  bend,  it  is  your  duty 
and  your  privilege  to  penetrate ;  to  recognise  the  coun- 


SER.   13.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  273 

tenance  of  God  beaming  upon  you  with  ineffable  be- 
nignity, and  to  feel  animated  in  spreading  out  your 
wants  before  him,  by  the  interesting  fact,  that  in  him 
there  is  a  well-spring  of  mercy,  from  which  he  will 
bountifully  supply  them  all. 

3.  Again,  let  me  turn  your  attention  to  some  of  those 
representations  of  himself  which  God  has  been  pleased 
to  give  to  his  suppliant  people,  and  by  which  they  are 
encouraged  to  draw  near  to  him  in  prayer.  For  in- 
stance, he  is  represented  as  seated  on  a  throne  of 
grace.  Now,  you  are  never  to  contemplate  God  as 
divested  of  the  attributes  of  holiness  and  justice.  These 
are  essential  to  him,  and  enter  into  every  correct  and 
comprehensive  idea  of  his  character.  But  then,  were 
you  to  think  of  him,  only  as  holy  to  hate  the  sin  which 
he  sees  in  you,  and  just  to  visit  it  with  merited  punish- 
ment, all  approach  to  him  would  be  felt  to  be  presump- 
tion, and  all  supplication  would  appear  to  be  vain.  He 
therefore,  reveals  himself  to  you  as  occupying  a  throne 
of  grace — thus  assuring  you  of  his  favor,  and  inviting 
you  to  come  to  him  without  dread  and  without  misgiv- 
ing. He  sits  upon  "  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up," 
with  every  thing  at  his  command,  and  controlled  by  no 
created  power  in  the  communication  of  his  gifts.  He 
is  holy  and  just,  indeed ;  but  his  holiness  has  been  so 
honored,  and  his  justice  so  satisfied,  that  they  form  no 
hinderance  to  the  operation  of  his  grace — which  is  free 
to  expatiate  upon  all  the  objects  of  his  regard,  to  the 
full  extent  of  their  necessities.  This  grace  is  so  abun- 
dant in  its  riches,  so  liberal  in  its  outgivings,  so  un- 
checked and  unrestricted  in  the  generosity  of  its  de- 
signs, and  so  accessible  to  all  who  need  its  interposi- 
tion and  its  aid,  that  it  is  mentioned  as  characteristic  of 
his  throne ;  as  not  merely  something  by  which  it  is  dis- 
tinguished in  common  with  other  properties  of  a  differ- 
ent kind,  but  as  having  such  a  prominence  and  such  an 
ascendancy  that  all  other  properties  are  subordinated 
by  it  and  absorbed  in  it,  as  the  quality,  in  short,  that 
gives  the  name  by  which  God's  throne  is  spoken  of. 


274  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   13. 

and  by  which  it  is  consecrated  in  the  estimation  of  all 
his  worshipping  people.  It  is  not  the  throne  of  maj- 
esty— it  is  not  the  throne  of  vengeance — it  is  not  the 
throne  of  holiness  and  justice.  It  is  the  throne  of 
grace — He  who  sits  upon  it  is  the  God  of  grace — the 
invitation  that  issues  from  it  is  the  invitation  of  grace — 
the  blessings  that  it  holds  out  are  the  blessings  of  grace. 
This  is  the  throne,  my  believing  friends,  that  you  go  to — 
that  you  bow  before — that  you  address,  when  you  ask 
what  you  need.  And  why  does  God  speak  of  himself 
as  occupying  such  a  throne,  if  it  be  not  to  impress  you 
with  the  persuasion,  that  so  far  from  turning  away  your 
prayers  from  hnn,  you  cannot  be  more  desirous  to  re- 
ceive, than  he  is  willing  to  bestow  ?  Let  your  wants 
be  what  they  may  ;  let  them  be  so  great  that  you  can- 
not calculate  them,  so  numerous  that  you  cannot  rec- 
kon them,  so  urgent  that  you  are  ready  to  sink  under 
them — let  them  be  what  they  ^  may, — there  is  in  that 
one  word  "  grace,"  which  designates  the  throne  where 
you  are  to  implore  relief,  what  may  satisfy  you  that 
there  is  not  only  a  sufficiency  wherewith  to  supply  them 
all,  but  a  decided  and  an  unreserved  readiness  to  minis- 
ter to  them  all.  Even  let  it  be  supposed  that  your 
conscience  has  been  writing  the  bitterest  things  against 
you — that  your  transgressions  appear  to  you  in  the  most 
aggravated  colors — that  you  feel  your  heart  hard  and 
insensible  as  a  rock — that  a  conviction  of  utter  unwor- 
thiness  has  taken  possession  of  your  soul — and  that  you 
are  afraid  to  look  to  God,  or  to  ask  from  him  the  par- 
don, the  sanctification,  the  comfort,  of  which  you  are  as 
undeserving  as  you  are  needful — still  I  must  exhort 
you  to  have  recourse  to  his  throne,  and  to  take  encour- 
agement from  this,  that  it  is  "the  throne  of  grace." 
The  righteous  Lord  sits  upon  that  throne ;  but  his  face 
has  no  frown  upon  it — his  voice  has  no  terror  in  it. 
On  whatever  part  of  that  throne  you  cast  your  eye, 
you  see  it  inscribed  with  grace  in  all  its  variety  of  ap- 
plication to  your  circumstances.  There  is  grace  to 
blot  out  your  trespasses,  though  they  be  "  red  like  crim- 


SER.   13.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  275 

son."  There  is  grace  to  purify  your  hearts,  though 
they  be  full  of  all  uncleanness.  There  is  grace  to  sub- 
due your  enemies,  though  they  "  come  upon  you  as  a 
flood."  There  is  grace  to  console  you  amidst  all  your 
sorrows,  though  they  be  great  and,  multiplied,  and 
protracted.  There  is  grace  to  guide  you  through  life, 
to  cheer  you  at  death,  and  to  carry  you  to  heaven. 
And  as  surely  as  God  sits  upon  that  throne  of  grace,  so 
surely  will  he  listen  to  the  prayers  that  you  prefer  at 
his  footstool,  and  uphold  the  character  which  he  himself 
has  enstamped  upon  it,  by  freely  tendering  and  impart- 
ing to  you  whatsoever  you  ask  in  sincerity  and  faith. 

While  God  represents  himself  as  seated  on  a  throne 
of  grace,  he  also  represents  himself  under  the  endear- 
ing character  of  a  Father.  He  is  a  Father,  indeed, 
whom  you  have  offended  by  apostacy  and  disobedience ; 
but  his  anger  has  been  turned  away,  reconciliation  has 
been  effected ;  and  he  has  sent  forth  the  "  Spirit  of 
adoption"  unto  your  hearts,  whereby  you  can  look  up 
to  him  and  say,  "  Abba,  Father."  And  viewing  him 
as  standing  in  this  paternal  relation,  you  cannot  but  feel 
convinced  that  he  will  give  you  what  you  ask,  as  "  his 
children  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ."  For  the  leading 
and  predominant  idea  conveyed  in  that  relationship  is, 
that  he  loves  you  and  will  provide  for  you,  and  will  de- 
light to  confer  upon  you  whatever  is  requisite  for  your 
prosperity  and  comfort.  An  affectionate  father  has  it 
continually,  and  as  an  inherent  instinct  in  his  heart,  to 
supply  all  the  wants  of  his  children ;  and  when  they 
implore  his  help,  whether  it  be  to  support,  or  to  pro- 
tect, or  to  guide,  or  to  console,  or  to  advance  them, 
tliere  is  no  indifference,  no  aversion,  no  reluctance  in 
his  breast, — but  such  a  tenderness  towards  them,  such 
a  concern  for  their  safety  and  well-being,  such  a  desire 
to  deliver  them  from  evil  and  to  do  them  good,  that 
almost  no  sacrifice  is  deemed  too  costly  by  which  this 
feeling  may  be  practically  manifested  ;  and  even  in- 
gratitude and  undutifulness  can  scarcely  restrain  the 
beneficence  in  which  it  is  disposed  to  go  forth  upon  its 


276  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   13. 

beloved  objects.  And  "  like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him.'' 
Whatever  regard  an  earthly  father  can  be  supposed  to 
pay  to  his  helpless  and  dependent  children,  may  be 
confidently  expected  of  our  heavenly  Father,  towards 
those  whom  he  has  adopted  into  the  family  of  the  re- 
deemed, and  whom  he  acknowledges  as  his  ransomed 
offspring.  His  eye  is  upon  them  for  good ;  his  ear  is 
open  to  their  cry ;  his  heart  longs  for  opportunities  of 
blessing  them ;  and  his  readiness  to  impart  to  them 
what  they  need  and  ask,  has  this  superiority  over  the 
workings  of  all  mere  human  attachments,  that  while 
it  will  give,  even  to  importunity,  nothing  that  is  hurtful 
or  unsuitable,  it  prompts  the  petitions  for  what  alone  is 
safe  or  beneficial,  and  answers  these  by  the  wisest  and 
most  liberal  communications.  Our  Saviour  appeals  to 
this  illustration  of  God's  willingness  to  answer  the  re- 
quests of  his  people,  when  he  is  urging  upon  the  disci- 
ples the  duty  of  prayer — as  you  find  in  the  verses  suc- 
ceeding our  text.  "  Or  what  maw  is  there  of  you" — 
let  him  even  be  more  than  ordinarily  deficient  in  the 
affections  of  kindred — "  what  man  is  there  of  you  whom 
if  his  son  ask  bread,  will  he  give  him  a  stone  ? — or  if  he 
ask  a  fish  will  he  give  him  a  serpent  ?"  Is  there  any 
one  of  you  so  cruel  and  so  hardened,  as  either  t^  J'e- 
fuse  what  his  children  in  duty  or  from  necessity  derll>wt»'< 
of  him,  or  to  give  them,  instead  of  it,  what  is  ii-^di»^ 
or  injurious  ?  On  the  contrary,  will  not  his  heart  ^f'ol-f ' 
towards  them  with  the  tenderest  sympathy,  and  wr-bivr"* 
he  be  disposed  to  fulfil,  as  bountifully  as  he  can,  all  miei-- 
desires  which  they  have  expressed?  "If  ye,  en^] 
being  evil" — with  a  nature  that  is  imperfect  am.  c^r*-' 
rupt,  and  whose  corruption  and  imperfection  must  nt%'ib 
essarily  cleave  to  all  your  best  affections,  and  all  your 
worthiest  doings — if  ye,  being  thus  evil,  are  inclined 
and  "  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven" 
— in  whom  no  defect  can  be  conceived  to  exist,  and 
whose  paternal  love  is  too  strong  to  be  ever  weakened, 


SER.   13.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  277 

and  too  rich  to  be  ever  exhausted — how  much  more 
shall  such  a  Father  "  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask 
him  !"     Such  a  Father  is  your  Father  in  Heaven,  my 
beheving  brethren.      And  why  should  not  you  go  to 
him  and  make  your  requests  known  to  him,  without  any 
fear  of  having  your  suit  rejected  ;  or  rather  with  the 
confidence  of  obtaining   from  him  what  you  need  and 
supplicate.     Has  any  thing  occurred  to  discourage  you 
from  drawing  near  to  God   in  prayer,  and   asking  from 
him  any  of  the  blessings  which  are  yet  warrantable  sub- 
jects of  petition,  and   requisite   for  your  welfare?     Be 
assured  that  the   discouragement  has  no   foundation  in 
truth,  and  should   have   no   influence  on  your   minds. 
Remember  that  the  God  whom  you  thus  tremble  to  ap- 
proach,  and  whose  mercy  you  thus  distrust,  is  your 
Father,  and  that  this  is  a  character  which  he  has  as- 
sumed, and  in  which  he  appears  to  you,  for  the  very 
purpose  of  reviving,  establishing,  and   cherishing  your 
confidence  in  him.     Do  not  dishonor  him  by  imagining 
that  he  will  lay  it  aside,  or  act  inconsistently  with  it,  in 
any  part  of  the  intercourse  which  he  maintains  with 
you,  or  of  the  treatment  which  he  gives  you,  as  those 
whom  he  has  taught  to  look  to  him  with  filial  regard. 
And,  especially,   beware  of  allowing  such  thoughts  to 
enter  your  minds,  when  your  circumstances  dictate  to 
y  .      le  exercise  of  that  precious  privilege,  which  holds 
*S"      -^n  important  place  amid  the  various  privileges  that 
e'    '^..to  the  sons  and  the  daughters  of  a  redeeming 
■  f  m1  -Uthe  privilege  of  asking  from  him  whatever  bless- 
1^  is  accommodated  to  your  need.     Rather   go  with 
die  i*^  'bdom,  and  the   frankness,   and   the  undoubting 
affiantli  of  those  whom  he  has  called  to  be  his  chil- 
."»•   i,  and  whom  he  therefore  invites  into  his  presence, 
and  assures  of  an   affectionate  reception ;  and  spread 
out  all  the  wants  of  your  condition,  and  pour  out  all  the 
desires  of  your  hearts  before  him — satisfied  that  he  can- 
not but  be  willing  and  ready  to  give  you  every  token  of 
his  loving-kindness  which  your  exigencies  may  require. 
Whenever  any  thing  happens  to  keep  you  away  from 
24 


278  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   14. 

him,  or  to  hinder  your  applications  to  him,  as  if  "  he 
had  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  and  would  be  favorable 
no  more,"  call  to  mind  what  you  were  once  enabled  to 
say  on  the  warrant  and  by  the  help  of  his  own  Spirit, 
"  doubtless  thou  art  our  Father ;"  and  on  that  ground, 
ask  what  you  will  without  fear,  and  without  wavering. 
And  let  the  encouragement  which  thus  arises  from 
remembering  God's  willingness  to  hear  and  answer 
your  requests,  be  continually  present  to  your  mind, 
and  be  realized  to  your  feelings,  by  your  habitually 
prefacing  your  devotional  applications  to  him  with  that 
significant  and  cheering  address,  "  Our  Father  which 
art  in  Heaven." 

4.  I  have  still  to  mention  another  proof  of  God's  willing- 
ness to  bestow  the  blessing  that  you  need  and  ask.    And 
this  consists  in  his  having  given  his  own  Son  to  save  you 
by  his  sufferings  and  his  death.    It  is  impossible  for  us  to 
estimate  the  value  of  this  gift,  or  to  conceive  what  love 
it  implied  on  the  part  of  God  from  whom  it  proceeded. 
But,  whether  we  look  to  the  declarations  of  scripture 
respecting  it,  or  attend  to  its  nature  and  consequences, 
so  far  as  we  are   capable  of  comprehending  them,  its 
value  must  be  accounted  infinite,  and  we  must  consider 
it  as  bespeaking  a   love,  that  "passeth  knowledge." 
Now,  my   believing  friends,  you   have   received  that 
gift :  you  have  been  permitted  to  contemplate,  to  ad- 
mire, to  experience,  its   excellence ;  and  you  will  be 
ready  to  confess  that,  both  as  to  the  mercy  in  which  it 
originated,  and  the  extent  and  magnitude  of  its  impor- 
tance to  your  souls,  it  is  unspeakably  and  immeasurably 
great.     But  acknowledging  and  feeling  this,  why  should 
you  ever  be  doubtful  of  receiving   any  thing  that  you 
ask,  in  so  far  as  it  is  essential  or  conducive  to  your  real 
welfare  ?     You  have  already  received  the  greater  boon  ; 
and  can  any  reason  be  assigned  for  your  not  receiving, 
with  equal  certainty  and  liberality,  all  the  lesser  boons  ? 
The  bestowal  of  the  former  intimates  a  boundless  com- 
passion in  the  Being  who  imparted  it ;  and  when  it  is 
the  very  same  Being  to  whom  you  apply  for  every 


SER.   13.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  279 

thing  else,  have  not  you  ample  security  in  his  houndless 
compassion  for  the  attainment  of  the  latter  ?     And  as 
tlie  one  would  not  be  effectual  to  its  purposes,  respect- 
ing your  final  salvation,  which  it  was  intended  to  secure, 
without  the  others  being  conveyed  to  you  in   all  their 
appointed  variety  and  abundance,  do  you  not   see  that 
the  wisdom   and  the  faithfulness,  as  well  as  the  mercy, 
of  God,  are  pledged,  to  grant  them  as  constituent  parts 
of  his  own  plan  of  redemption  ?     These  considerations 
are  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient,  to  satisfy  you 
tliat  he  must  be  perfectly  willing  to  answer  your  peti- 
tions for  every  thing  connected  with  your  present  wel- 
fare and  your  future  happiness.     The  apostle  Paul  em- 
ploys this  very  argume4it,  when  he  says,  "  He  that  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all ;  how 
shall  he  not  with  him,  also,  freely  give  us   all  things  ?" 
These  words  represent  it  as  utterly  impossible  that  any 
of  the  subordinate  blessings  should  be  refused,  or  should 
not  be  conferred  with  the  utmost  readiness  and  gener- 
osity, since  that  has  been  conferred  on  which  they  all 
depend,  and  which  exceeds  them  all  in  its  intrinsic 
worth,  and  conferred  by  Him  who,  in  the  mission,  the 
humiliation,  and  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  dear  Son,  has 
afforded  such  an  overpowering   display  of  love,  that  it 
would   be  irrational  in  itself  and   injurious  to  his  char- 
acter, to  harbor  even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  his  un- 
willingness to  give  to  his  people  any  one  of  all  the  mul- 
tiplied comforts  and  advantages  which  can  enter  into 
tlie  lot,  or  can  contribute  to  the  w^ell-being   of  a  re- 
deemed soul.     You   may  be   assured,   then,  that   God 
will  not,  and  cannot  despise  the  prayer,  which  ascends 
to  him   from  your  hearts ;  which  is  offered  up  in  faith, 
and  which  refers  to  benefits  that  you  need  and  are  au- 
thorized to   ask.     Pray  for  these  ;  and  when   at  any 
time  the  apprehension  steals  in  upon  you,  that  they  will 
not  be  given,  call  to  mind  the  ineffable  gift  of  his  own 
Son,  that  you  may  be  encouraged  to  ask ;  and  let  your 
belief  in  its  atoning  efficacy,  as  well  as  in  its  inestimable 
preciousness,  give  energy  and  urgency  to  the  requests 


280  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRATER.  SER.  13. 

that  you  send  up  to  Heaven.  Be  assured  that  that 
gift  is  the  earnest  of  every  other.  He  to  whose  un- 
paralleled bounty  you  are  indebted  for  it,  will  give  you 
grace  here,  and  glory  hereafter,  and  will  withhold  from 
you  nothing  that  is  good.  "  What  is  your  petition  and 
what  is  your  request  ?"  Present  it ;  and  He  "  will  give" 
you,  not  only  "  to  the  half,"  but  the  whole  of  that  sal- 
vation which  he  has  provided  for  you  in  the  gospel. 
And  amidst  all  your  misgivings,  and  anxieties,  and  ap- 
prehensions, encourage  your  hearts  by  remembering 
these  words,  "  Fear  not ;  for  it  is  your  Father's  good 
pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom."  "  Ask,  and  ye 
shall  receive." 

And  let  the  holy  ordinance  of  communion,  in  which 
you  are  now  to  engage,  inspire  you  with  renowned  con- 
fidence in  the  exercise  of  prayer.  It  is  well  fitted  to 
do  so.  For  it  sets  before  you  that  very  gift  of  God 
which  implies,  or  which  brings  along  with  it,  all  others. 
At  the  table  of  the  Lord,  you  partake  of  the  memorials 
of  that  sacrifice  by  which  God  makes  over  to  you,  w^ho 
receive  them  in  faith,  all  the  blessings  and  privileges 
which  you  can  possibly  desire  to  make  you  perfectly 
and  forever  blessed.  And  in  virtue  of  your  union  with 
Christ  and  your  interest  in  his  finished  work,  "  all 
things  are  yours."  Why  then  should  you  be  fearful  or 
backward  to  ask  what  is  thus  your  own  by  covenant- 
right  and  by  solemn  engagement?  Over  the  symbols 
of  Christ's  broken  body  and  shed  blood,  take  courage, 
and  plead  for  whatever  your  circumstances  require. 
Carry  with  you  the  remembrance  of  his  death  into  all 
your  scenes  of  devotion,  and  let  it  embolden  and  stim- 
ulate you  to  implore  even  the  richest  blessings  that  are 
laid  up  in  the  storehouse  of  divine  bounty.  And  with 
hearts  enlarged  by  the  influence  of  those  considerations 
which  we  have  been  pressing  on  your  attention,  and 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  all  grace,  "  pray  without  ceas- 
ing," and  "in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication, 
with  thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto 
God."      Bear  about   with  you  the  promise   and  the 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    281 

pledge  for  Its  fulfilment,  and  recal  them  to  your  recol- 
lection as  often  as  you  come  before  his  throne,  and 
especially  when  doubts  and  suspicions  would  fetter  your 
devotion,  or  keep  you  at  a  distance  from  the  Hearer  of 
prayer.  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek,  and 
ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you  : 
for  every  one  that  asketh,  receiveth ;  and  he  that  seek- 
eth,  findeth;  and  to  him  that  knocketh,  it  shall  be 
opened." 


EXHORTATION    AFTER    THE    COMMUNION.* 


Before  we  separate,  my  friends,  let  me  address  to 
you  a  few  exhortations  suited  to  the  circumstances  in 
which  you  now  stand,  as  having  been  engaged  in  the 
solemn  duty  of  commemorating  the  Saviour's  dying 
love.  I  shall  endeavor  to  comprise  what  I  have  to  say 
within  as  small  a  compass  as  possible.  At  the  same 
time,  you  will  allow  me  to  address  myself,  for  a  little, 
to  the  different  classes  into  which,  in  point  of  conduct 
and  condition,  my  hearers  may  be  considered  as,  on 
this  occasion,  divided. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  are  there  any  whose  con- 
sciences tell  them  that  they  have  come  to  the  Lord's 
table,  without  any  fitness  for  it,  and  have  partaken  of 
the  ordinance,  without  any  interest  it  ?  that  they  have 
been  influenced  by  unworthy  motives ;  that  they  have 
been  destitute  of  right  principles ;  that  they  have  acted 
in  an  irreverent  and  unchristian  manner  ?  To  such  of 
you,  I  must  declare  that  you  have  been  "  guilty  of  the 

*  Addressed  to  the  congreg-ation  of  St.  George's  Church,  Ediuburgh, 
after  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  7lh  November;  1830. 

*24 


282    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

body  and  blood  of  the  Lord ;"  that  you  have  deliber- 
ately profaned  the  memorials  of  the  Saviour's  death  ; 
that  you  have  been  eating  and  drinking  judgment  to 
yourselves — provoking  the  displeasure,  and  incurring 
the  condemnation  of  God.  You  cannot  but  be  sensible, 
that  the  guilt  which  you  have  thus  contracted  is  of  a 
highly  aggravated  nature  ;  and  that  every  consideration 
which  renders  the  ordinance  obligatory,  and  holy,  and 
endearing,  calls  upon  you  to  repent  of  this  "  your  great 
wickedness."  "  Repent,  therefore,  and  be  converted, 
that  your  sin  may  be  blotted  out."  Humble  yourselves 
before  Him  whom  you  have  insulted  and  provoked. 
Ask  of  him  the  forgiveness  that  you  need.  Have  re- 
course to  the  "  blood  of  sprinkling"  on  which  you  have 
trampled,  but  which  alone  can  cleanse  you  from  iniquity. 
And  let  this  step  be  the  last  of  that  thoughtless  and  w^ay- 
ward  career  which  you  have  been  hitherto  running. 
Let  the  conviction  of  your  guilt  arrest  you  ;  and,  imder 
its  awful  impression,  resolve,  in  the  strength  of  divine 
grace,  that  you  will  "  go  and  sin  no  more  ;"  that  you 
will  never  again  touch  the  symbols  of  Christ's  sacrifice 
with  polluted  hands ;  that  you  will  henceforth  live  in  a 
state  of  habitual  preparation,  and  thus  be  ready  when- 
ever providence  shall  call  you,  to  remember  Christ,  at 
his  holy  table.  May  God  himself  teach  you  to  form 
this  resolution,  and  may  he  enable  you  to  keep  it ! 

2.  In  the  second  place,  are  there  any  who,  in  their 
communion  service,  have  experienced  disappointment; 
who  have  sincerely  desired,  and  studiously  endeavored, 
to  partake  worthily  of  this  ordinance,  and  yet  have  not 
enjoyed  the  comfort  and  satisfaction  which  they  ex- 
pected ?  Let  me  entreat  such  of  you  not  to  attribute 
this  to  the  ordinance  itself,  as  if  it  were  not  calculated 
to  impart  the  consolation  w^hich  you  have  sought  with- 
out finding  it;  not  to  impute  it  to  any  deficiency  of 
kindness  in  Him,  after  whose  favor  you  have  been  as- 
piring, though  without  success  ;  not  to  consider  it  as  a 
decisive  proof  that  you  have  come  wholly  unprepared 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    283 

to  eat  the  Lord's  supper,  and  have  therefore  been 
guilty  of  abusing  and  profaning  it.  I  would  rather  ex- 
hort you  to  reflect,  whether  you  may  not  have  been 
looking  for  more  sensible  communications  of  divine  love 
tlian  are  promised ;  whether  you  may  not  have  been 
waiting  for  emotions  of  rapture,  when  you  should  have 
been  contented  with  the  humbler,  though  not  less  valu- 
able, attainments  of  moral  influence  and  peaceful  en- 
joyment ;  whether,  imperfect  as  your  service  may  have 
been,  you  are  not  taking  exaggerated  views  of  that  im- 
perfection, and  mistaking  involuntary  error  for  deliber- 
ate impiety ;  whether  some  worldly  care,  or  some  do- 
mestic affliction,  or  some  groundless  fear,  may  not  have 
intruded  itself,  and  distracted  the  tenor  of  your  thoughts, 
or  lowered  the  tone  of  your  devotion.  Reflect  whether 
any  of  these  circumstances  may  have  been  the  cause  of 
your  disappointment.  And  while  you  suspect  the 
weakness  or  the  corruption  of  your  own  hearts,  and  are 
more  and  more  humbled  on  that  account,  do  not  cease 
to  love  the  ordinance  of  sacred  communion;  do  not  de- 
sist from  "  following  on  to  know  the  Lord  ;"  do  not  des- 
pair of  sooner  or  later  arriving  at  "everlasting  consola- 
tion and  good  hope  through  grace ;"  but  let  your  sor- 
rowful experience  on  this  occasion  quicken  you  to 
greater  diligence  in  the  ways  of  religion ;  let  it  teach 
you  to  cherish  less  sanguine  expectations  of  happiness 
in  this  mixed  and  sinful  state  of  being;  let  it  lead  you 
to  exercise  a  profounder  submission  to  the  will  of  your 
heavenly  Father  respecting  your  joys  and  your  griefs, 
and  to  rest,  not  so  much  upon  the  frames  and  feelings 
of  the  heart,  as  upon  the  sincerity  of  your  desires,  the 
fervor  of  yoin-  prayers,  the  unwearied  activity  of  your 
endeavors  to  w^alk  as  the  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  the  expectants  of  that  heavenly  "joy, 
which  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

3.  In  the  third  place,  have  any  of  you  good  reason 
to  believe,  that  you  were  guided  to  the  Lord's  table  by 
pure  and  upright  motives?     Were  you  anxious  to  ac- 


284    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

quire  the  graces  that  were  necessary  to  qualify  you  for 
tlie  ordinance?  Did  you  present  your  offering  in  faith, 
and  penitence,  and  love  ?  And  have  you  felt  it  to  be 
a  good  and  blessed  thing  for  you  to  "  draw  near  unto 
God  ?"  And  need  I  remind  you  of  your  obligation  to 
be  thankful  to  Him  in  whose  mercy  all  this  has  orig- 
inated— who  prepared  the  feast  for  you — who  invited 
you  to  partake  of  it — who  made  you  meet  for  enjoying 
it — who  spread  over  you  "  his  banner  of  love" — and 
enabled  you  to  rejoice  in  the  light  of  his  countenance, 
and  in  the  riches  of  his  grace  ?  Let  your  hearts  be 
warmed  with  sentiments  of  gratitude  for  his  abundant 
goodness  ;  let  your  lips  celebrate  his  praise ;  let  your 
conduct  show  the  obligations  which  you  feel  to  devote 
yourselves  to  his  service.  But  while  thus,  in  one  sense, 
you  have  reason  to  be  elevated  by  your  communion 
service,  you  have  reason  also,  in  another  view,  to  be 
lowly,  and  to  "join  trembling  v/ith  your  mirth."  Sin- 
cere as  you  may  have  been,  and  suitable  as  were  your 
principles  and  dispositions,  you  cannot  but  acknowledge 
that  much  sin  and  imperfection  have  attached  to  your 
solemn  service.  How  cold  have  been  your  devotions 
— ^how  listless  your  attention — how  weak  and  wavering 
your  faith — how  inadequate  your  love — how  dispropor- 
tionate your  hatred  of  sin — how  undetermined  your 
resolutions  and  purposes  of  obedience  !  I  say,  how  far 
short,  in  these  and  other  respects,  have  you  come  of  that 
standard  of  duty  to  which  you  should  have  conformed ! 
And  should  not  this  excite  in  you  the  sentiments  of  hu- 
mility ?  Should  it  not  lead  you  to  the  throne  of  grace, 
that  you  may  ask  and  obtain  forgiveness  ?  And  should 
it  not  make  you  anxious  on  every  future  occasion  to 
have  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  in  livelier  and  more  vigor- 
ous exercise  ?  Study,  then,  to  be  truly  humble  under 
a  sense  of  your  unworthiness.  Neglect  not  to  pray  for 
the  pardon  which  your  consciences  tell  you  that  you 
need.  And  be  stimulated  to  seek,  with  greater  earn- 
estness than  ever,  that  habitual  preparation  of  the  heart 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    285 

and  of  the  life  which  shall  fit  you  for  a  still  more  ac- 
ceptable, and  a  still  more  useful,  and  still  more  com- 
fortable, commemoration  of  the  Saviour's  death.  It  is 
thus,  indeed,  that  you  are  to  walk  worthy  of  the  pro- 
fession you  have  this  day  made,  and  of  the  privilege  you 
have  this  day  enjoyed.  O,  my  friends,  considering  all 
that  you  have  seen  and  done  at  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
how  holy  should  you  be  in  all  manner  of  conversation 
and  of  conduct !  You  never  can  do  too  much  to  tes- 
tify your  gratitude  and  your  devotedness  to  him  whom  • 
you  have  there  remembered.  Let  it  be  the  great  bus- 
iness of  your  life  to  live  to  Christ.  Live  to  him  by  re 
lying  on  his  merits,  and  "  glorying  in  his  cross."  Live 
to  him  by  keeping  his  commandments,  and  imitating 
his  example,  and  submitting  to  the  discipline  of  his 
providence.  Live  to  him  by  observing  punctually  and 
devoutly  those  ordinances,  which  he  has  instituted  for 
the  comfort  of  your  souls,  and  for  the  improvement  of 
your  character.  Live  to  him,  by  cultivating  that 
brotherly  affection  to  one  another,  and  that  unfeigned 
charity  to  all  mankind,  w^hich  he  not  only  enjoins  upon 
you  as  his  disciples,  but  which  he  so  conspicuously  dis- 
played in  his  own  life,  and  by  whose  sacred  impulse  he 
was  constrained  to  die  that  you  might  live.  Live  to 
him  by  doing  what  you  can,  and  by  doing  it  with  all 
your  might,  to  promote  the  knowledge  and  the  influence 
of  his  religion  in  the  world — to  carry  abroad  the  glories 
of  his  reign  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth — and  to 
bring  every  heart  within  your  reach  under  the  dominion 
of  his  grace  and  power.  You  know,  my  friends,  that 
when  I  exhort  you  thus  to  live  to  Christ,  I  exhort  you 
do  what  is  both  becoming  and  necessary  in  his  pro- 
fessed followers.  Do  not  reject  my  counsel,  then,  as 
if  there  were  no  propriety  in  its  meaning,  no  justice  in 
its  application,  no  importance  in  its  effects.  Let  no 
temptation  prevail  upon  you  to  go  aside  from  that  line 
of  conduct  which  you  have  so  many  motives  to  pursue 
with  patience  and  perseverance.     Act  at  all  times  wor- 


286         EXHORTATION   ArTER   THE    COM»IUNION. 

thy  of  your  high,  your  holy,  your  heavenly  "vocation." 
And,  amidst  all  the  trials  to  which  your  faith  and  your 
virtue  may  be  exposed  in  an  evil  world,  think  on  the 
communion  you  have  enjoyed,  and  on  the  love  you 
have  remembered,  and  on  the  vows  you  have  taken, 
and  on  the  hope  you  have  professed,  that,  with  the  help 
of  God,  you  may  be  encouraged  to  "  hold  your  confi- 
dence stedfast  unto  the  end,"  and  be  quahfied  at  last 
to  "  enter  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord." 

4.  In  the  fourth  and  last  place,  have  you  for  the  first 
time  commemorated  the  death  of  Christ  at  a  com- 
munion table?  I  congratulate  you  on  this  public  pro- 
fession of  your  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  in  his  gospel, 
and  in  his  cross,  and  1  would  beseech  you  to  persevere 
in  it,  and  to  justify  its  sincerity,  in  every  part  of  your 
future  conduct.  You  must  not  think  that,  having  ap- 
peared at  the  Lord's  table,  you  have  now  secured  the 
character  of  disciples,  and  on  the  ground  of  what  is 
past,  may  conclude  that  all  is  well  with  your  spiritual 
interests.  No,  my  young  friends;  the  character  of  dis- 
ciples is  to  be  ascertained,  not  by  partaking  of  this  or- 
dinance, solemn  and  important  as  the  service  is,  but  by 
tliose  principles,  and  by  that  conduct,  which  a  right  ob- 
servance of  it  requires  in  communicants,  and  which  it 
has  a  direct  and  powerful  tendency  to  produce  and  to 
improve.  Your  conscience  will  tell  you  whether  you 
were  indeed  possessed  of  such  principles  and  of  such 
conduct,  before  you  came  to  the  Lord's  table;  but 
charitably  presuming  that  you  were,  it  must  now  be 
your  concern  to  live  as  those  who  have  given  themselves 
away  to  God,  who  believe  in  Christ  with  the  heart, 
who  look  for  salvation  through  the  merits  of  a  crucified 
Redeemer,  and  who,  living  in  this  world  "  as  strangers 
and  pilgrims,"  are  the  expectants  of  that  better  and 
purer  and  happier  world  which  lies  beyond  it.  I  would 
not  conceal  from  you  the  difficulties  and  dangers  you 
will  have  to  encounter  in  your  Christian  progress.  Nor 
would  I  have  you  to  conceive  yourselves  at  liberty  to 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    287 

make,  in  any  case,  a  compromise  with  sin,  as  if  it  were 
possible  for  you  to  "  serve  two  masters."  You  must 
expect  to  meet  with  much  opposition  ;  and  that  oppo- 
sition it  is  necessary  for  you  to  resist  and  to  overcome. 
But  be  not  cast  down :  He  that  is  for  you  is  infinitely 
"  greater  than  all  that  can  be  against  you,"  He  will 
"  make  his  grace  sufficient  for  you,  and  will  perfect  his 
strength  in  your  weakness."  You  are  in  the  hands  of 
a  compassionate  and  almighty  Saviour.  Trust  in  Him, 
and  he  will  make  you  "  more  than  conquerors"  over 
all  your  enemies.  He  will  guide  you  in  difficulty;  he 
will  protect  you  in  danger ;  he  will  fortify  you  against 
temptation  ;  he  will  strengthen  you  for  duty ;  he  will 
comfort  you  in  all  your  tribulations ;  he  will  lead  you 
through  the  dark  "  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  ;"  and 
he  will  bring  you  in  triumph  to  his  heavenly  kingdom. 
Encouraged  and  animated  by  such  promises,  be  sted- 
fast  in  the  faith  and  obedience  of  the  gospel.  Dili- 
gently employ  the  means  of  grace  which  you  enjoy,  by 
reading  the  Scriptures,  attending  the  public  worship  of 
God,  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath-day,  and  praying  to 
your  Father  in  heaven.  Avoid  the  company  of  the 
thoughtless,  the  impure,  and  the  profane.  And  asso- 
ciate with  those  who  fear  the  Lord  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, and  who  can  assist  you,  by  their  counsel 
and  their  example,  in  your  journey  to  heaven.  Walk 
under  the  habitual  impression  that  the  eye  of  God  is 
upon  you,  to  witness  all  your  thoughts,  and  all  your 
words,  and  all  your  ways.  Frequently  recal  to  your 
recollection  the  service  of  this  day  ;  and  when  tempted 
to  sin,  remember  your  solemn  vows,  and  keep  your- 
selves from  transgression.  And  let  every  other  con- 
sideration be  enforced  by  the  prospect  of  death  and 
judgment.  Ere  long  you  must  die,  and  give  an  ac- 
count to  God.  Nay,  you  may  be  called  soon  and  sud- 
denly to  give  in  that  account.  And,  this  being  the 
case,  O  how  vigilant,  and  feow  active,  should  you  be  in 
the  work  that  is  given  you,  and  that  you  have  under- 


288    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

taken  to  do  !  Youth  and  health  and  prosperity,  are  no 
security  against  an  unexpected  summons  to  depart. 
"  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  may  be  required  of 
thee."  "  Be  ye  always  ready,  for  ye  know  neither  the 
day  nor  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh.  And 
what  I  say  unto  you,  I  say  unto  all,  watch."  "Now 
unto  Him  that  is  able  to  keep  your  from  falling,  and  to 
present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory 
with  exceeding  joy ;  to  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour, 
be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now 
and  ever.     Amen." 


SERMON    XIV. 


ENCOURAGE3IENT    TO    PRAYER. 

MATTHEW  vii.  7. 

"  Ask,  and  it  shall  he  given  you.^^ 

In  a  former  discourse  on  these  words,  we  proposed  to 
consider  the  encouragements  we  have  to  engage  in  the 
duty  of  prayer.  And  the  first  of  these  encouragements 
to  which  we  directed  your  attention  was,  that  the  God 
to  whom  we  pray  is  as  wilhng  and  ready,  as  he  is  able, 
to  bestow  upon  us  the  blessings  that  we  need  and  ask. 
This  proposition  we  proved  and  illustrated  by  observ- 
ing, first,  that  God's  commanding  us  to  pray,  proceeds 
on  the  supposition  that  he  will  not  withhold  what  we 
ask  according  to  his  injunction  :  Secondly,  that  he  gives 
explicit  declarations  and  assurances  of  that  willingness 
which  his  commandment  warranted  us  to  infer ;  and 
that  these  declarations  and  assurances  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  remove  every  doubt  or  apprehension  we 
might  have  entertained  on  the  subject :  Thirdly,  that 
the  various  representations  of  himself,  which  he  has 
given  In  the  scriptures,  afford  the  most  powerful  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  same  conclusion — as  for  instance, 
when  he  represents  himself  as  seated  on  a  throne  of 
25 


290  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   14. 

grace,  and  in  the  character  of  our  heavenly  Father : 
And  fourthly,  that  he  has  given  his  own  Son  for  our 
salvation  ;  and  this  unspeakable  gift  is  a  pledge  and 
earnest  that  every  other  gift  which  is  necessary  for  us 
will  be  conferred;  agreeably  to  the  reasoning  of  the 
apostle,  *'  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  deliv- 
ered him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  freely 
give  us  all  things." 

II.  We  now  proceed  to  consider,  as  another  encour- 
agement to  pray,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  High  Priest, 
and  Advocate  with  the  Father. 

We  should  not,  and  if  our  minds  are  properly  affect- 
ed, we  cannot,  approach  God  without  convictions  of 
guilt  and  unworthiness.  [t  is  unchangeably  true  that 
his  nature  and  character  are  distinguished  by  infinite 
holiness.  It  is  no  less  true,  that  we  are  polluted  with 
that  moral  demerit  by  which,  as  an  infinitely  holy  being, 
he  must  be  offended.  And  while  these  impressions 
ought  at  all  times  to  have  a  place  in  our  minds, 
especially  must  they  prevail  when  we  go  into  his  pres- 
ence, that  we  may  solicit  him  for  benefits.  It  must 
then  occur  to  us  not  only  that  we  do  not  deserve  them, 
but  that  were  we  to  be  treated  according  to  our  desert, 
wrath,  and  not  mercy,  would  be  our  portion. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  if  we  are  reconciled  to  God 
by  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  can  look  up 
to  him  in  the  spirit  of  adoption  as  our  heavenly  Father, 
such  apprehensions  need  not  distress  or  overwhelm  us. 
Still,  however,  our  being  justified  does  not  prevent  us 
from  sinning.  Every  sin  we  commit  may,  on  that  ac- 
count, be  considered  as  so  much  the  more  aggravated, 
and  so  much  the  more  displeasing,  in  the  sight  of  God. 
And  occasionally  there  may  be  such  a  deep  conscious- 
ness of  guilt — our  souls  may  be  so  burdened  with  a 
sense  of  iniquity — we  may  be  so  much  cast  down  by 
the  number  and  heinousness  of  those  transgressions 
which  set  themselv^es  in  array  against  us — that  we  can- 
not look  up  to  Him  against  whom  we  have  done  evil, 
and  may  feel  as  if  it  would  be  adding  to  our  demerit 


SER.   14.         ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  291 

were   we  to  call   upon  his  name,  and  supplicate  any 
blessing  from  bis  band. 

Now,  in  these  circumstances,  our  great,  our  only 
refuge  is  in  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is 
sufficient  to  remove  every  ground  of  fear,  and  to  give 
us  confidence  in  the  petitions  we  prefer.  His  sacrifice 
is  adequate  to  the  expiation  of  all  our  guilt.  It  was 
appointed — it  has  been  offered  up — it  has  been  fully 
accepted — for  this  very  purpose.  And  God's  perfec- 
tions are  honored,  and  his  glory  promoted,  by  the  for- 
giveness of  all  who  are  interested  in  its  atoning  virtue. 
Nor  is  it  forgiveness  alone  that  it  has  obtained  for  us. 
By  removing  the  barrier  which  stood  between  God  and 
us,  it  allows  his  loving-kindness  to  flow  in  upon  us 
freely  and  fully;  and  by  conciliating  that  loving-kind- 
ness, there  is  secured  for  us  every  blessing  which  the 
divine  bounty  can  be  deemed  capable  of  bestowing 
upon  those  who  are  the  objects  of  it — every  blessing  that 
is  essential  to  the  salvation  and  happiness  of  the  sinful 
creatures  on  whose  account  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was 
instituted.  Whether  we  consider  the  value  of  Christ's 
sacrifice  as  directly  meriting  what  we  need,  or  whether 
we  consider  it  as  making  way  for  the  exercise  of  God's 
love,  in  communicating  what  we  need,  the  effect  is 
equally  precious,  certain,  and  extensive.  The  value  of 
the  sacrifice  is  infinite,  and  will  merit  every  thing — the 
love  of  God  to  which  it  gives  unrestrained  operation,  is 
also  infinite,  and  will  communicate  every  thing,  that  is 
implied  in  the  largest  and  most  liberal  sense  of  the 
term,  "  redemption."  But  it  is  upon  the  worth  and 
efficacy  of  this  very  sacrifice  that  we  are  called  to  de- 
pend, when  we  ask  any  thing  of  God.  Depending 
upon  it,  we  are  assured  that,  for  its  sake,  we  shall  re- 
ceive. And  as  it  avails  to  the  cancelling  of  all  sin,  and 
to  the  restoration  of  the  favor  which  we  had  lost,  and 
to  the  attainment  of  whatever  is  requisite  for  our  salva- 
tion, we  have  no  reason  to  be  afraid  that  any  one  boon 
will  be  refused,  which  it  is  competent  for  us  to  ask,  or 
necessary  for  us  to  possess. 


292  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.  14. 

This  argument  becomes  still  more  powerful,  when 
we  recollect  the  nature  and  consequences  of  our  union 
with  Christ.  If  we  have  truly  believed  in  him,  we  are 
members  of  his  mystical  body,  and  are  therefore  par- 
takers of  all  that  belongs  to  him  as  our  spiritual  head. 
He  has  secured  all  the  blessings  that  are  necessary  for 
his  people.  They  are  treasured  up  in  him,  as'his  pur- 
chased and  ascertained  property,  for  their  welfare.  And 
if  we  are  his  people  by  that  faith  which  links  us  to  him, 
these  blessings  must  be  ours,  in  title  or  in  possession,  as 
certainly  as  they  are  his.  He  has  already  won  them 
by  his  vicarious,  perfect,  and  accepted  obedience.  He 
won  them,  not  for  himself,  but  for  those  whom  he  came 
to  redeem.  And  the  moment  that  faith  makes  us  one 
with  him,  we  acquire  a  covenant-right  to  them,  which 
we  are  warranted  to  plead  at  the  throne  of  grace  ;  and 
pleading  this,  our  plea  must  be  successful,  not  merely 
because  God  is  good  and  merciful,  but  also  because  he 
is  righteous  and  true.  This  doctrine  is  asserted  by  the 
apostle  John  when  he  says,  "  If  we  confess  our  sins, 
God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  The  faithfulness 
and  the  justice  of  God  are  here  appealed  to  as  guaran- 
teeing pardon  and  purification  to  those  who  return  to 
him  in  his  appointed  way.  And  in  like  manner,  and 
for  the  same  reason,  when  we  ask  any  thing  of  him  as 
behevers  in  Christ,  we  ask  what  Christ  has  already  se- 
cured a  tide  to,  and  what  God  therefore  is  pledged,  by 
solemn  engagement,  to  grant  for  Christ's  sake.  To  be 
fearful,  then,  that  we  shall  not  receive,  is  not  only  to 
distrust  the  divine  compassion,  but  moreover,  to  im- 
peach the  divine  rectitude.  And  thus  those  very  attri- 
butes which,  when  contemplated  in  reference  merely  to 
our  guiltiness,  were  apt  to  drive  us  away  from  God's 
presence,  and  to  repress  every  petition  for  good,  by 
extinguishing  every  hope  of  its  being  answered,  become 
our  most  potent  encouragement  to  pray,  in  consequence 
of  the  satisfaction  which  has  been  rendered  to  them  by 
the  finished  work  of  Christ,  and  of  the  claim  which  has 


^B.      14.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  293 

Lsan  thereby  established  upon  them,  to  fulfil  whatever 
was  promised  to  our  substitute  and  surety.  In  this  view, 
we  may  ask  with  freedom  ;  and  we  may  ask  with  the  un- 
wavering confidence  that  we  shall  seceive. 

There  is  another  important  circumstance  connected 
with  the  one  now  mentioned,  which  deserves  considera- 
tion. The  oblation  which  Christ  presented  on  behalf 
of  his  people,  has  secured  for  them  a  tide  to  all  the 
blessings  of  salvation  ;  but  as  our  great  High  Priest,  he 
has  not  only  offered  up  that  oblation,  and  procured  its  ac- 
ceptance— he  has  also  taken  it  with  him  into  "  the  holiest 
of  all,"  and  there  he  "  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  us."  What  can  be  more  consolatory  ;  what  can  be 
more  animating,  than  the  persuasion,  that  we  have  "an 
Advocate  w^ith  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous, 
who  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ?"  Were  we  apply- 
ing to  an  earthly  sovereign  for  any  favor,  we  should 
naturally  feel  ourselves  encouraged  to  make  the  appli- 
cation, in  spite  of  any  obstacles  arising  from  the  obscurity 
of  our  situation,  or  even  the  imperfections  of  our  char- 
acter, by  knowing  that  we  had  a  friend  in  the  royal 
presence  to  urge  our  suit,  whose  skill  and  influence 
would  all  be  employed  in  our  behalf,  and  exerted  to  en- 
sure success.  And  surely  w^e  must  experience  the 
power  of  this  motive  when  it  is  furnished  by  the  inter- 
cession of  Christ,  who  presents  our  petitions  at  the 
Father's  right  hand,  and  enforces  them  with  all  the  af- 
fection and  with  all  the  weight  of  a  Redeemer,  whose 
love  and  whose  merit  and  whose  wisdom  are  unbounded. 
He  not  only  pleads  with  a  Being  who  is  already  disposed 
to  pity  and  to  help  us,  but  with  a  Being  who  has  been 
propitiated  by  a  sacrifice  of  his  own  appointment.  He 
rests  his  plea  upon  the  sacredness  of  a  covenant,  whose 
conditions  he  has  amply  fulfilled,  as  the  representative 
of  his  people.  He  asks  for  blessings  which  are  already 
his,  by  the  right  of  purchase  or  of  conquest.  And, 
therefore,  his  prayer,  must  be  prevalent,  inasmuch  as 
there  are  holiness  and  mercy  and  faithfulness  in  God. 
His  very  admission  into  God's  heavenly  presence  with 
*25 


194  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.^   j^ 

the  blood  of  atonement,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  .  *^^- 
atorial  labors,  is  a  complete  security  for  his  success,  be- 
cause it  demonstrates  that  God  was  weJl-pleased  with 
what  he  had  done  and  suffered  for  sinners  5  and,  looking 
to  every  thing  connected  with  his  nature  and  his  work, 
we  cannot  suppose  that  he  will  ever  forfeit  that  divine 
acceptance  which  he  has  gained  at  such  a  costly  price, 
and  which  has  been  made  over  to  him  in  such  a  solemn 
manner.  So  that  when  we  rely  upon  the  efficacy  of  his 
intercession,  we  rely  upon  that  which  possesses  infinite 
worth,  and  must  necessarily  be  available  to  every  thing 
which  involves  the  well-being  of  those  for  whom  it  is 
made.  And  as  we  are  assured  that  he  makes  interces- 
sion for  us  who  believe  in  his  name  ;  that  he  perfumes 
our  supplications  with  the  incense  of  his  infinite  merit ; 
that  he  presents  and  urges  them  as  his  own  ;  and  that 
God  is  glorified  by  granting  his  requests — we  may  ban- 
ish all  doubt  and  hesitation  from  our  minds,  and  ask 
with  the  firm  conviction  that  we  shall  not  ask  in  vain. 
"  Seeing  that  we  have  a  great  High  Priest  that  is 
passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  let  us 
come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may 
obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need." 
The  intercession  of  such  a  Saviour,  in  such  circumstances 
is  fitted  to  give  us,  and  if  we  understand  it  aright,  and 
have  a  believing  regard  to  it,  it  will  give  us,  a  humble, 
holy,  boldness  in  the  exercise  of  prayer.  It  will  relieve 
us  from  all  the  embarrassments  which  may  be  occa- 
sioned by  a  sense  of  our  unworthiness.  It  will  encour- 
age us  to  make  known  to  God  the  desires  of  our  hearts, 
not  for  any  one  thing,  but  for  every  thing,  that  we  need, 
as  sinful,  dependent,  immortal  creatures.  It  was  to 
save  us  that  Christ  gave  himself  an  offering  and  a  sacri- 
fice unto  God.  It  is  in  prosecution  of  the  same  great 
end  that  he  has  gone  with  that  sacrifice  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us.  It  is  for  nothing  less  that  he 
continues  there,  discharging  the  office  of  an  Advocate 
with  the  Father.  And,  therefore,  we  may  petition  for 
all  the  benefits  that   are  comprehended  in  the  term 


SER.    14.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  295 

"  salvation,"  in  the  full  persuasion  that  not  one  of  them 
will  be  withheld. 

Let  this  then,  my  believing  friends,  be  your  encour- 
agement in  prayer,  that  Christ  is  your  propitiation  and 
your  intercessor.  Whatever  may  occur  to  cast  down 
and  disquiet  your  soul,  still  trust  in  God,  w^ho  hears 
Chi-ist  always,  and  will  not,  cannot,  reject  his  suit,  or 
deny  him  what  he  asks.  And  "  whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  the  Father  in  his  name,  he  will  give  it  you ;"  for 
with  him  you  are  identified,  as  it  were,  in  the  scheme 
of  God's  redeeming  mercy.  I  cannot  say  to  you,  that 
hitherto  ye  have  asked  nothing  in  Christ's  name.  For 
all  along,  it  must  be  presumed,  that  you  have  been  ask- 
ing in  that  name,  and  in  no  other.  But  if  you  have 
doubted  or  desponded  when  supplicating  at  God's  throne, 
we  cannot  but  fear  that  you  have  forgotten,  or  have 
not  sufficiently  realized  and  felt,  the  efficacy  of  Christ's 
name.  In  the  mere  name,  indeed,  in  the  word  itself, 
there  is  no  such  efficacy,  no  such  virtue,  no  such  charm, 
that  the  soundings  of  it,  or  the  thinking  on  it,  should 
bring  you  any  blessing.  Asking  in  his  name,  means  the 
exercise  of  a  conscious  reliance  upon  his  mediation. 
When  you  pray,  let  that  reliance  be  in  full  and  lively 
operation.  Let  this  be  the  case  in  every  season  of 
devotion.  More  especially  let  it  be  present  with  you 
w^ien  convictions  of  guilt  and  sinfulness  rise  up  to  be- 
cloud your  views  of  heav^en,  and  to  make  you  fearful  in 
the  hour  of  prayer.  In  such  exigencies,  look  steadfastly 
to  Christ,  meditate  deeply  on  him,  confide  unhesitatingly 
in  him,  as  that  Saviour  who  presented  an  acceptable  of- 
fering, and  who,  on  the  ground  of  that  offering,  makes 
continual  and  prevalent  intercession  in  your  behalf. 
And  take  courage  to  ask  to  the  full  extent  of  your  ne- 
cessities. "Ask  in  faith,  nothing  wavering."  "Ask, 
and  ye  shall  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full." 

in.  In  the  third  place,  we  may  mention  as  another 
encouragement  to  pray,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  promised 
to  assist  us  in  this  sacred  duty. 


296        ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  PRAYER.    SER.  14# 

There  is  no  duty  whatever,  which  of  ourselves  we 
are  able  to  discharge  aright.  And  this  melancholy  fact 
holds  true  with  regard  to  prayer,  fully  as  much  as  it 
does  with  regard  to  any  other.  Prayer  is  an  exercise 
so  purely  spiritual ;  it  requires  such  an  effort  of  the  at- 
tention, such  a  concentration  of  the  affections,  such  a 
freedom  from  external  interference,  such  a  minute  ac- 
quaintance with  our  own  hearts  and  characters  and  cir- 
cumstances, and  such  a  constant  and  steady  contempla- 
tion of  the  peculiar  objects  of  faith, — that  at  all  times 
we  engage  in  it  with  painful  imperfection,  and  often  fail 
in  its  most  essential  and  interesting  properties.  And  a 
sense  of  this  naturally  tends  to  increase  the  evil,  and 
even  to  make  us  go  seldomer,  and  with  less  willing- 
ness, and  with  less  comfort  and  advantage,  to  the  throne 
of  grace. 

Now,  to  counteract  such  feelings,  and  to  prevent  such 
mischief,  let  it  be  remembered  with  gratitude  and  delight, 
that  we  have  the  promise  of  divine  aid,  suited  to  the 
nature  and  the  necessities  of  the  case.  We  have  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  this  purpose.  The  Holy 
Spirit,  indeed,  is  promised  to  direct  and  to  aid  us  in  the 
performance  of  all* our  Christian  duties;  and  without 
his  blessed  and  powerful  influences,  we  could  not  ad- 
vance one  step  in  the  path  of  piety  and  righteousness  ; 
we  could  neither  think  a  good  thought,  nor  speak  a  good 
word,  nor  do  a  good  work.  But  he  is  especially  pro- 
mised as  the  *'  Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications." 
He  is  represented  as  sustaining  this  character,  and  in 
this  character  as  imparted  to  believers,  and  dwelling  in 
them.  Having,  therefore,  the  promise  of  a  divine 
agency  to  assist  them  in  their  devotions,  they  may  trust 
they  will  be  prevented  from  "  asking  amiss,"  and  conse- 
quently asking  unsuccessfully. 

I  need  not  detail  to  you  the  various  particulars  as  to 
which  this  assistance  is  vouchsafed.  Whether  it  be  the 
difficulty  of  distinctly  realizing  Him  to  whom  you  ad- 
dress yourselves  in  prayer — or  whether  it  be  an  inade- 
quate knowledge  of  the  blessings  you  need,  or  an  inade- 


SER.   14.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  297 

quate  impression  of  their  value — whether  it  be  a  weak- 
ness in  your  faith,  or  a  langor  in  your  affections — 
whether  it  be  a  distraction  of  the  mind  by  worldly  cares, 
and  unholy  associations — whatever  it  be  which  might 
enfeeble,  or  desecrate,  or  nulHfy  your  applications  to  God 
for  the  blessings  you  need,  the  remedy  is  to  be  found 
in  the  influences  of  his  Spirit,  who  is  sent  for  this  very 
purpose,  that  he  may  teach  and  enable  you  to  pray — 
that  he  may  incline  your  hearts  to  this  exercise — that 
he  may  put  you  into  a  proper  frame  of  mind  for  it — 
that  he  may  sanctify  you  for  engaging  in  it  in  a  suitable 
manner — that  he  may  guard  you  against  the  intrusion  of 
those  vain  or  unhallowed  imaginations  by  which  it  would 
be  polluted — that  he  may  give  you  a  lively  conviction  of 
the  importance  and  urgency  of  your  wants — that  he  may 
suggest  to  you  such  petitions  as  correspond  with  all  the 
varieties  of  your  condition — that  he  may  keep  your  view 
fixed  singly  and  intensely  on  the  Being  to  whose  benig- 
nity you  appeal — and  that  he  may  direct  all  your  as- 
pirations through  that  medium  by  which  alone  the  sin- 
ful creature  can  hold  intercourse  with  the  Holy  Creator 
— the  merit  and  intercession  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
All  these  benefits — and  every  thing  else  that  is  requi- 
site for  asking  so  as  to  receive,  are  involved  in  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  he  who  is  privileged  to  pray 
"  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit,"  need 
not  be  dejected  by  the  consideration  of  that  ignorance, 
and  weakness,  and  much  imperfection  with  which  he  is 
naturally  beset.  The  Spirit  will  guide  and  strengthen 
and  sanctify  him  in  this  service  as  in  every  other ;  and, 
yielding  to  his  gracious  influences,  he  will  find  it  true 
in  respect  to  prayer,  that  "  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty." 

There  is  a  very  striking  and  significant  statement  on 
this  part  of  our  subject,  in  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
(viii.  26.)  "  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  in- 
firmities ;  for  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as 
we  ought ;  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for 
us,  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.     And  he 


298  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   14. 

that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints 
according  to  the  will  of  God."  The  Spirit  is  our  great 
auxiliary  in  the  divine  life.  He  helps  us  amidst  all  the 
infirmities  that  cleave  to  our  nature,  or  that  arise  from 
our  situation  :  and  as  our  infirmities  attach  to  the  duty 
of  prayer,  so  he  helps  us  in  the  performance  of  that 
duty.  We  are  so  deficient  when  left  to  our  own  re- 
sources, that  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for,  and 
we  know  not  how  to  pray  for  it  as  we  ought.  But  here 
the  Spirit  comes  to  our  aid  ;  and  so  adequate  and  so 
efficient  is  the  aid  which  he  imparts — so  much  does  he 
inspire  us  with  devotional  sentiment,  and  so  much  does 
he  dictate,  as  it  were,  the  very  petitions  which  we  are 
to  offer  up,  and  so  much  does  he  take  the  management 
of  our  understandings  and  our  hearts  at  the  throne  of 
grace,  and  so  much  are  the  outpourings  of  our  souls 
there  to  be  traced  and  ascribed  to  his  operation,  that 
he  is  represented  as  executing  a  prerogative  similar  to 
that  which  belongs  to  Christ,  and  as  "  making  interces- 
sion for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered" — 
exciting  us  to  long,  with  inexpressible  ardor,  after  the 
blessings  of  that  redemption,  to  which  he  seals  us,  and 
rendering  our  prayers  for  these,  fervent,  appropriate, 
and  effectual,  acceptable  to  that  God  who  knows  what 
are  the  thoughts  and  desires  of  his  saints,  and  who  re- 
gards them  as  inwrought  by  his  own  Spirit,  whose  sug- 
gestions they  are,  and  who  will  answer  them  in  mercy 
as  being  all  in  conformity  to  the  purpose  which  he  has 
formed  concerning  the  deliverance  and  the  happiness 
of  his  people. 

What  rich  encouragement  does  this  afford  you,  my 
Christian  brethren,  in  the  exercise  of  prayer !  Not 
only  does  God  to  whom  you  pray  invite  you  into  his 
presence,  and  assure  you  of  his  willingness  to  "  grant 
you  according  to  your  own  heart,  and  to  fulfil  all  your 
counsel ;"  but  you  are  taught  to  look  to  Christ,  his 
anointed  Son,  as  having  purchased  for  you  the  blessings 
that  you  need  and  ask,  and  as,  on  that  ground,  inter- 


SER.  14.         ENCOURAGEMENT   TO    PRATER.  299 

ceding,  powerfully  and  prevalently,  that  you  may  re- 
ceive them  in  full  and  suitable  measure.  And  then 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  provided  and  sent  forth,  that  the 
divine  work  may  be  perfected — that  you  may  be  in- 
structed in  the  proper  enjoyment  of  this  distinguished 
privilege — in  the  right  performance  of  this  sacred  duty 
— in  the  efficient  use  of  this  important  means  of  grace — 
and  that  you  may  be  enabled  so  to  order  your  desires, 
and  so  to  present  your  supplications,  as  that  nothing 
shall  be  wanting  to  secure  your  attainment  of  all  that  is 
needful  for  you  in  time  and  eternity.  Let  all  your  ap- 
prehensions arising  from  conscious  infirmity,  be  dissi- 
pated by  this  consideration.  Let  your  souls  be  en- 
larged and  stimulated  by  it,  that  you  may  always  pray, 
and  not  faint.  And  let  it  come  home  to  you  with 
double  power,  when  you  remember  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  promised  to  them  that  ask  him — that  his  influences 
as  "the  spirit  of  supplications"  will  be  given  in  answer  to 
your  humble  and  believing  requests — and  that  the  more 
you  depend  upon  his  aid,  and  the  more  importunate  and 
persevering  you  are  in  imploring  it,  the  more  liberal 
will  be  its  supply,  the  greater  freedom  will  you  have  in 
seeking  God's  face  and  favor;  and  the  more  plentifully 
will  he  pour  down  upon  you  the  bounties  of  his  grace, 
and  the  joys  of  his  salvation. 

IV.  Finally,  the  happy  experience  of  believers  in  all 
ages,  furnishes  another  encouragement  to  prayer. 

When  you  are  exhorted  to  pray,  it  is  no  new  duty 
which  you  are  called  to  perform.  It  is  not  a  duty 
whose  importance  and  usefulness  have  yet  to  be  brought 
to  the  test  of  experiment.  It  is  not  an  exercise  whose 
tendency  to  comfort  and  improve  those  who  engage  in 
it,  is,  in  any  measure  speculative  or  not  fully  proved. 
The  commandment  of  God  to  pray — the  privilege  of 
his  people  to  pray — are  as  ancient  as  the  church  itself. 
The  commandment  has  been  obeyed,  the  privilege  has 
been  possessed,  ever  since  there  was  a  converted  sin- 
ner upon  the  earth.  And  the  uniform  testimony  has 
been,  that  in  the  "  keeping  of  that  commandment  there 


300  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.   14. 

is  a  great  reward,"  and  that  from  the  use  of  that  priv- 
ilege, all  comfort  and  edification  are  derived.  Nay, 
my  friends,  if  it  has  been  given  "  to  you  in  the  behalf 
of  Christ  Jesus  to  believe  in  his  name,"  you  also  must 
know  what  it  is  to  pray,  and  I  may  appeal  to  your  own 
experience,  if  you  have  not  found  it  to  be  a  good  and  a 
profitable  thing  to  draw  near  unto  God.  And  if  that 
be  the  case — if  you  have  found  God  when  you*"  sought 
him — if  blessings  have  descended  upon  you  when  you 
supplicated  them — if  frequenting  the  throne  of  grace 
you  can  say  that  hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  you, 
may  not  you  expect  that,  continuing  to  frequent  that 
tlirone,  goodness  and  mercy  will  continue  to  follow  you 
till  you  take  up  your  abode  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
above  ?  May  you  not  expect  this,  even  though  you 
cannot  distinctly  trace  a  connexion  between  the  partic- 
ular tokens  of  kindness  you  have  received  and  the  pe- 
titions by  which  they  were  preceded.  From  the 
scheme  of  Christianity — from  the  promises  of  the  gos- 
pel— from  what  has  actually  happened  in  the  history  of 
your  Christian  life,  you  must  know  and  feel  that  the 
instrumentality  of  prayer  has  been  so  blessed  as  to  pro- 
cure for  you  the  spiritual  good  that  you  enjoy  :  and 
this  is  enough  to  teach  you  that,  by  persevering  in  the 
use  of  the  same  instrumentality,  similar  good,  in  a 
greater  or  in  a  less  degree,  will  come  into  your  lot  from 
the  hand  of  Him  who  has  heretofore  heard  your  sup- 
plications and  answered  them  in  mercy.  And  if  you 
be  placed  in  more  difficult,  more  dangerous,  more 
needful,  more  trying  circumstances  than  you  were  ever 
placed  in  before,  and  neqd  a  proportional  encourage- 
ment, you  may  surely  find  it  in  the  case  of  multitudes, 
who  have  come  through  far  greater  tribulations  and 
been  delivered  from  far  heavier  burdens,  than  any  that 
you  are  doomed  to  suffer  or  to  bear ;  who  clung  the 
closer  to  the  footstool  and  the  throne  of  mercy,  the 
more  that  they  were  tempted  and  afflicted ;  who  never 
ceased  to  "  cry  to  Him  who  was  able  to  save  them  ;" 
who  were  thus  rescued  out  of  all  their  fears  and  troubles, 


SER.   14.  ENCOURAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  301 

and  have  now  exchanged  the  wailings  of  distress,  and 
tlie  entreaty  for  deliverance,  for  the  unceasing  accents 
of  gratitude  and  victory  and  joy.  On  looking  around 
you  among  your  brethren  in  Christ,  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  you  may  discover  some  who  can  tell  you,  and  tell 
you  truly,  that  they  have  been  visited  with  "  fears  within 
and  fightings  without" — that  they  have  been  made  to 
"  walk  in  darkness  and  had  no  light" — that  many  and 
grievous  and  insupportable  were  the  evils  which  they 
had  to  endure — but  that  they  did  not  despair — that  they 
cried  mightily  to  the  Lord  their  God — that  he  heard 
them,  and  shed  the  light  of  life  and  consolation  upon 
their  souls,  and  guided  their  feet  into  the  way  of  peace, 
and  made  diem  to  sing  of  the  mercy  which  they  had 
implored, — and  that  they  are  now  living  and  blessed 
monuments  of  the  compassion  of  the  God  of  prayer, 
and  of  the  wisdom  and  the  advantage  of  seeking  Him 
in  that  character  amidst  every  scene  of  ad\^ersity  and 
alarm.  And,  if  you  know  not  within  the  limits  of  your 
Christian  brotherhood,  any  such  example  as  that  which 
I  have  now  supposed,  you  may  look  into  the  Bible  and 
there  you  will  find  it,  set  before  you  in  the  most  inter- 
esting light,  and  affording  the  strongest  possible  encour- 
agement to  engage  and  persevere  in  prayer.  Through- 
out the  whole  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  there  is  a  prac- 
tical demonstration  of  this  :  and  especially  in  the  116th, 
at  the  beginning,  where  the  pious  King  of  Israel  testi- 
fies to  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  in  terms  the  most  affect- 
ing and  pathetic.  "  T  love  the  Lord  because  he  hath 
heard  my  voice  and  my  supplications.  Because  he 
hath  inclined  his  ear  unto  me,  therefore  will  I  call  upon 
him  as  long  as  T  live.  The  sorrows  of  death  com- 
passed me ;  and  the  fears  of  hell  got  hold  upon  me  :  I 
found  trouble  and  sorrow.  Then  called  I  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord ;  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  deliver 
my  soul.  Gracious  is  the  Lord,  and  righteous  :  yea 
our  God  is  merciful.  The  Lord  preserveth  the  simple. 
I  was  brought  low  and  he  helped  me.  Return  unto 
thy  rest,  O  my  soul ;  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt  bounti- 
26 


302  ENCOUBAGEMENT    TO    PRAYER.  SER.  14. 

fully  with  thee.  For  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul 
from  death,  mine  eyes  from  tears,  and  my  feet  from 
falling." 

Be  persuaded,  then,  to  follow  in  the  footsteps,  of 
**  the  saints  and  the  excellent  of  the  earth"  who  have 
gone  before  you.  Imitate  their  example  :  be  encour- 
aged by  their  experience  :  let  the  success  which  ac- 
companied their  prayers  and  supplications  determine 
you  to  pray  and  to  supplicate  without  ceasing,  what- 
ever you  need  from  Him  whose  "  ear  is  never  heavy 
that  it  cannot  hear,  and  whose  hand  is  never  shortened 
that  it  cannot  save."  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ; 
seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you  ;  for  every  one  that  asketh,  receiveth,  and  he 
that  seeketh,  findeth ;  and  to  him  that  knocketh,  it  shall 
be  opened." 


SERMON  XV. 


PRAYER   IN    APFLICTIOX. 

JAMES  V.  13. 

''  Is  any  among  you  afflicted?    Let  him  pray. ^^ 

I  NEED  not  tell  you,  my  friends,  that  you  are  all  liable 
to  affliction.  You  can  scarcely  have  lived  so  long  in  the 
world  as  the  youngest  of  you  have  done,  v^ithout  suffer- 
ing it  in  some  of  its  various  forms.  At  this  very  mo- 
ment, perhaps,  I  speak  to  not  a  few  who  are  under  its 
actual  pressure.  At  any  rate,  there  are  many  in  the 
circle  of  your  acquaintance,  or  in  the  range  of  your 
neighborhood,  whom  you  know  to  be  visited  with  dis- 
tress in  their  own  persons,  or  in  those  of  their  families 
and  their  friends,  in  their  minds,  or  in  their  bodies,  or 
in  their  outward  condition.  In  all  this  you  see  an  am- 
ple demonstration  of  the  saying  that  "  man  is  born  to 
trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  upward."  And  from  it  you 
should  learn  that,  though  your  "  cup  may  now  be  run- 
ning over,"  and  your  "  mountain  standing  strong,"  it 
will  not  be  so  always — that  the  days  of  adversity  will 
assuredly  come,  and  that  these  days  may  be  longer  and 
darker,  and  more  stormy,  than  you  are  at  present  will- 
ing to  anticipate. 


304  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.   15. 

Now,  in  such  circumstances,  what  does  it  become 
you  to  do  ?  The  apostle  tells  you  in  the  words  of  my 
text;  "  Is  any  among  you  afflicted?  Let  him  pray." 
Here  we  are  taught  that  devotion  is  the  true  and  un- 
failing refuge  of  the  mourner — that  our  comfort  in  the 
midst  of  sorrow  is  to  be  found  in  the  doctrines  and  the 
exercises  of  religion — that  whatever  be  the  nature  of 
our  distresses,  we  should  have  recourse  to  God,  as  the 
Father  of  mercies,  the  fountain  of  consolation,  the  rock 
of  our  deliverance  and  our  safety. 

No  doubt,  in  the  time  of  trouble,  prescriptions  very 
different  from  these  will  be  freely  tendered  to  you,  and 
tendered  with  some  appearance  of  wisdom,  and  with 
liberal  professions  of  friendship. 

The  philosopher  will  tell  you  that  afflictions  are  the 
lot  of  humanity — that  they  are  absolutely  inevitable — 
that  your  grief  on  account  of  them  is  useless  and  una- 
vailing— and  that  therefore  you  should  try  to  become 
indifferent  to  them,  and  submit  quietly  to  your  fate, 
whatever  it  may  be  :  a  lesson  which  it  is  impossible  to 
reduce  to  practice  while  the  constitution  of  our  nature 
continues  what  it  is,  and  which,  were  it  practicable, 
would  only  serve,  by  deadening  our  sensibilities,  to  de- 
prive us  of  all  that  is  amiable,  and  to  exhibit  a  case  in 
which  the  remedy  is  incalculably  worse  than  the  dis- 
ease. The  man  who  could  remain  in  stoical  and 
deathlike  apathy,  amidst  all  the  ills  and  calamities  of 
life,  is  far  less  an  object  of  envy,  than  the  man  who 
weeps  at  every  trifling  injury,  and  allows  himself  to  be 
overwhelmed  by  disappointment  and  pain.  The  latter 
is  only  weak  ;  and  with  his  weakness,  may  have  much 
that  is  interesting ;  but  the  former,  in  the  sternness  of 
that  virtue  which  he  has  assumed,  has  lost  every  gra- 
cious attribute  of  the  heart,  and  made  himself  as  inca- 
pable of  relishing  the  joys,  as  he  has  made  himself  proof 
against  the  sorrows,  with  which  his  lot  is  chequered. 

The  mere  moralist  will  talk  to  you  of  the  utility  of 
those  trials  to  which  you  are  subjected ;  of  the  duty, 
the  propriety,  and  the  dignity  of  patient  endurance ;  of 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  305 

the  examples  of  suffering  and  of  magnanimity  with 
which  the  history  of  mankind  abounds ;  of  the  neces- 
sity that  exists  for  summoning  up  the  energies  of  your 
minds  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  your  case ;  and  of  the 
advantage  you  will  derive,  and  the  reputation  you  will 
acquire,  by  rising  superior  to  all  that  is  harassing  in  your 
experience  and  gloomy  in  your  prospects.  And,  doubt- 
less, these  considerations  are  not  altogether  inapplicable 
or  useless.  But  yet,  of  themselves,  they  are  far  from 
being  sufficient  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  pro- 
fessedly set  before  you.  They  rather  point  out  what 
should  prevent  you  from  murmuring,  than  what  will 
inspire  you  with  comfort  and  resignation ;  they  show 
you  the  temper  and  character  to  which  you  should  as- 
pire, rather  than  furnish  you  with  the  means  and  the 
motives  that  may  secure  their  attainment :  they  do  not 
carry  you  either  to  the  source  of  affliction  or  to  the 
source  of  consolation  ;  they  provide  you  only  with  what 
may  heal  your  wounds  slightly  and  superficially,  not 
with  what  will  cure  them  radically  and  effectually  : 
they  suggest  to  you  some  adventitious  views  which  may 
help  to  mitigate  your  disquietudes,  instead  of  urging 
upon  you  the  principle  whose  power  is  adequate  to 
subdue  these  disquietudes,  if  it  do  not  remove  their 
cause  :  in  short,  they  are  marked  by  this  capital  defect, 
they  while  they  deal  but  very  partially  both  with  our 
affections  and  our  destiny,  they  make  no  provision  for 
our  inherent  weakness,  and  fail  to  direct  us  to  that 
divine  aid,  without  which  all  our  knowledge,  and  all  our 
meditations,  and  all  our  efforts,  are  fruidess  and  in- 
efficient. 

Besides  these,  there  is  a  class  of  comforters  from 
whom  better  counsel  might  be  expected,  but  from  whom 
no  better  counsel,  or  rather  counsel  not  so  good,  is  ob- 
tained. The  persons  to  whom  I  refer  are  nominally 
Christians.  They  profess  to  rest  their  own  hopes  of 
salvation  on  the  gospel,  and  to  think  it  essential  to  the 
salvation  of  others.  And  they  would  be  indignant  were 
we  to  accuse  them  of  any  disrespect  for  the  Scriptures, 
*26 


306  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.   15* 

or  for  the  scheme  of  mercy  which  the  Scriptures  un- 
fold. But  yet,  the  practical  system  upon  which  they 
act  is  as  worldly  as  if  they  had  no  acquaintance  with 
Christianity  or  no  belief  in  it.  And  if  you  follow  their 
direction  when  you  are  afflicted,  you  will  find  that  sa- 
cred views  and  sacred  employments  are  almost  wholly 
interdicted,  and  that  if  you  are  to  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  these,  the  impression  which  they  are  to  be  permit- 
ted to  make,  and  the  influence  which  they  are  to  be 
permitted  to  maintain,  must  be  as  feeble  and  as  slight 
as  possible.  Accordingly,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
them  to  tell  you,  that,  in  such  circumstances,  you  should 
beware  of  dwelling  much,  or  of  dwelling  seriously,  on 
what  has  befallen  you ;  that  religious  books  are  a  great 
deal  too  dispiriting  and  dismal  for  your  perusal;  that  it 
is  only  to  increase  your  malady  when  you  seek  for  the 
conversation  of  a  clergyman,  or  of  a  pious  friend  ;  and 
that  nothing  can  be  worse  for  you  than  to  seclude  your- 
selves from  gay  company,  and  to  spend  any  portion  of 
your  time  in  retirement  or  in  solitude.  One  would  be 
apt  to  suppose  that  they  would  recommend  the  perusal 
of  your  Bible;  but  no,  they  would  much  rather  put 
into  your  hands  the  news  or  the  novel  of  the  day. 
Surely  they  might  be  expected  to  suggest  attendance 
on  public  ordinances ;  and  yet,  though  they  may  not 
be  so  bold  as  to  condemn  it,  they  will  be  much  more 
urgent  that  you  should  go  to  the  theatre  than  to  the 
church.  And  instead  of  the  offices  of  private  and  do- 
mestic piety,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  substitute  such 
miserable  expedients  as  the  card-table  and  the  midnight 
assembly.  In  short,  their  only  object  being  to  dissi- 
pate your  melancholy,  and  to  restore  your  spirits  to 
their  wonted  tone,  and  to  bring  you  back  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  as  they  call  it,  they  would  have  you  to  give 
yourselves  up  without  reserve  to  all  the  entertainments 
within  your  reach ;  to  frequent  the  haunts  of  levity  and 
mirth  ;  to  associate  with  those  whose  pursuits,  and 
whose  very  countenances,  are  an  antidote  to  sadness  ; 
to  force  the  laugh  which  refuses  to  come  spontaneously  ; 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  30f 

and,  in  fine,  to  engage  in  all  that  stands  most  directly- 
opposed  to  solemnity  of  feeling  and  seriousness  of  oc- 
cupation. 

I  know  not,  my  friends,  if,  on  any  supposition,  such 
counsels  are  to  be  considered  as  wise  or  appropriate. 
Were  I  a  mere  worldling,  a  very  infidel, — ^yet  had  I  a 
particle  of  the  best  susceptibilities  of  my  nature  left 
within  me,  and  especially  had  my  kind  affections  been 
in  the  least  degree  cultivated  and  refined,  could  I  toler- 
ate the  advice  which  bade  me  forget  the  dear  friend, 
the  beloved  parent,  or  the  darling  child  whom  I  had 
just  consigned  to  the  grave,  by  plunging  into  the  vani- 
ties and  pleasures  of  fashionable  life?  And  if  there  be 
truth  in  religion  ;  if  the  Bible  be  a  revelation  from  God  ; 
if  the  doctrines  which  it  teaches,  and  the  prospects 
which  it  sets  before  us,  be  realities  of  infinite  and  eter- 
nal moment,  as  many  of  those  to  whom  we  refer  pro- 
fess to  believe,  and  would  deem  it  foul  scorn  to  be  sus- 
pected of  doubting  or  denying, — then  surely,  and  be- 
yond all  controversy,  it  is  at  once  guilt  and  madness 
that  would  either  give  or  take  the  admonition  to  bury 
all  our  sorrows  in  the  thoughtlessness,  the  dissipation, 
and  the  frivolous  amusements  of  a  vain  and  ungodly 
world. 

But  while  we  protest  and  warn  you  against  such  un- 
sound monitors — such  miserable  comforters  as  those  of 
whom  we  have  been  speaking,  we  would  supply  their 
place  with  the  apostle,  who,  guided  by  the  Spirit  of 
wisdom,  says,  "  Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ?  let  him 
pray."  And  when  the  apostle  holds  this  language,  he 
is  not  to  be  understood  as  teaching  that  the  mere  act 
of  prayer  is  sufficient  to  answer  the  purpose  which  he 
has  in  view ;  or  that  diis  purpose  can  be  answered  by 
the  most  conscientious  and  persevering  discharge  of 
that  important  duty.  There  are  various  methods  by 
which  your  afflictions  may  be  removed  or  alleviated — 
various  methods  by  which  you  may  be  rescued  from 
them,  or  by  which  you  may  be  supported  under  them, 
and  by  which  you  may  be  enabled  to  feel  and  to  act 


308  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.  15. 

worthily  with  respect  to  them.  These  are  either  dic- 
tated by  the  word  of  God  or  suggested  by  the  arrange- 
ments of  his  providence  ;  and  it  is  right  and  necessary 
that  they  should  be  brought  into  operation,  and  enn- 
ployed  with  as  much  skill  and  energy  as  we  can  com- 
mand. Prayer,  however,  is  peculiarly  suitable,  and  de- 
serving of  particular  notice.  It  is  not  only  in  itself,  and, 
by  its  own  independent  fitness,  becoming,  and  useful, 
and  obligatory  in  the  season  of  distress,  but  it  is  requisite 
as  an  accompaniment  to  all  the  other  exercises  in  which 
we  then  engage,  and  to  all  the  other  means  which  we 
then  bring  into  action — requisite  to  give  them  their  pro- 
per tone  and  character,  and  to  procure  that  blessing 
from  above,  by  which  alone  they  can  be  made  effectual. 
Prayer,  indeed,  is  a  duty  in  which  we  should  be  hab- 
itually occupied,  according  to  the  express  command- 
ment of  God,  and  agreeably  to  the  place  which  he  has 
assigned  it  among  the  duties  of  personal  Christianity. 
But,  while  we  should  be  habitually  occupied  in  it,  there 
are  times  and  circumstances  in  which  it  should  be  re- 
sorted to  with  more  than  ordinary  zeal.  And  it  is  a 
matter  of  reason,  as  well  as  of  devout  feeling,  that, 
when  we  are  afflicted,  we  stand  more  in  need  of  it,  and 
should  therefore  be  given  to  it  with  more  frequency  and 
with  more  fervor.  We  are  required  by  the  voice  of 
divine  authority,  to  '^  call  upon  the  Lord  in  the  day  of 
trouble,  that  he  may  deliver  us,  that  we  may  glorify 
him."  His  people  have,  in  every  age,  recognised  it 
to  be  no  less  a  privilege  than  a  duty  to  obey  this  precept  ; 
and,  in  crying  to  him  "from  the  depths,"  they  have  of- 
ten found  comfort  and  salvation.  Our  Saviour  himself 
has  given  us  an  example  of  it,  for,  in  his  hour  of  trial 
and  suffering,  he  "  offered  up  prayers  and  supplications 
to  Him  who  was  able  to  save  him  from  death  ;"  and, 
"  being  in  agony,  he  prayed  the  more  earnestly," — and 
he  was  "  heard  in  that  he  feared."  And,  indeed,  my 
friends,  what  fitter,  what  kinder,  exhortation  can  we  give 
you,  when  you  are  afflicted,  than  that  you  should  bow 
down  at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  pour  out  before  Hina 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  300 

who  sitteth  upon  it,  the  sorrows,  and  the  desires,  and 
the  petitions  of  your  hearts ;  that  you  should,  in  this 
manner,  and  on  such  occasions,  hold  communion  with 
your  heavenly  Father,  and  apply  for  those  communica- 
tions which  correspond  with  the  nature  of  your  situation 
and  the  extent  of  your  necessities;  that  your  views 
should  be  directed,  and  your  prayers  addressed,  to  Him 
from  whom  your  afflictions  proceed,  or  under  whom 
they  are  permitted  to  befal  you,  who  both  can  and  will 
remove  them,  according  to  your  entreaty,  if  he  see  it  to 
be  for  your  real  good — who,  at  all  events,  can  cheer  and 
uphold  you  while  you  groan  beneath  their  burden — who 
can  overrule  and  bless  them  for  promoting  your  spiritual 
improvement  and  your  eternal  well-being — and  who 
can  make  them  all  issue  in  your  advancement  to  that 
"  crown  of  righteousness  and  glory  which  fadeth  not 
away." 

It  is  of  importance,  however,  that  you  be  not  only 
convinced  of  the  propriety  and  the  benefit  of  praying  to 
God  when  you  are  afflicted,  but  that  you  also  attend  to 
the  leading  characteristics  of  the  prayer  which  you  then 
prefer,  that  you  may  be  at  once  persuaded  to  engage  in 
the  exercise,  and  to  engage  in  it  acceptably  and  success- 
fully.    With  this  view, 

1.  I  remark  in  the  first  place,  that  it  may  be  the 
prayer  of  nature.  "  The  Hearer  of  prayer"  is  the  God 
of  nature.  He  has  implanted  in  you  certain  instinctive 
tendencies  which  it  is  lawful  to  gratify,  when  this  is  not 
done  in  opposition  to  the  express  intimations  of  his  will, 
or  by  means  of  which  he  disapproves.  And  one  of  the 
most  powerful  of  these  instincts,  is  the  tendency  to  es- 
cape from  danger  and  from  misery  of  every  kind. 
From  every  calamity  then,  which  befals,  or  which 
threatens  you,  you  are  permitted,  and  you  are  bound, 
to  seek  deliverance.  This  is  what  our  Saviour  did. 
He  suffered  no  farther  and  no  longer  than  was  consist- 
ent with  the  work  which  he  had  undertaken  to  perform. 
And,  even  when  he  could  not  fail  to  know  that  all 
which  he  was  doomed  to  endure  was  necessary  for  our 


310  PRAYER   IN   AFFLICTION.  SER.  15. 

redemption,  yet  he  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  natural 
feeling,  and  in  the  exceeding  sorrowfulness  of  his  soul, 
offered  up  this  memorable  petition,  "  Father,  save  me 
from  this  hour — if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from 
me."  You  have  the  authority  of  his  example,  there- 
fore, for  asking  the  removal  of  your  afflictions.  It  be- 
comes you  to  use  every  proper  means  of  averting  the 
evils  which  menace  you,  and  of  terminating  the  evils 
which  have  already  come  upon  you.  But  forget  not 
also  to  pray  to  this  effect.  Pray  that  the  God  of  mer- 
cy and  of  power  may  be  pleased  to  take  away  all  that 
pains,  and  all  that  harasses  you.  Pray  that  he  may 
direct  you  to  those  measures  which  are  best  calculated 
to  accomplish  your  relief,  and  that  he  would  bless  them 
for  that  end.  And,  pray  with  all  the  earnestness  and 
ardor  which  may  be  suggested  by  the  poignancy,  and 
the  extent,  and  the  duration  of  your  sufferings. 

2.  But,  secondly,  your  prayer  must  be  the  prayer 
of  resignation.  Our  Saviour  had  no  sooner  prayed 
"  If  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from  me,"  than  he 
added,  "  Nevertheless,  not  as  I  will  but  as  thou  wilt." 
Resignation  was  the  habit  of  his  mind  :  and  in  the  hour 
of  his  deepest  anguish,  this  virtue  had  its  perfect  work. 
He  knew  that  all  things  were  well  ordered.  He  en- 
tertained not  a  wish,  nor  a  thought,  at  variance  with  the 
divine  appointments.  And  at  the  very  moment  that  he 
was  imploring  exemption  from  suffering,  with  a  fervor 
which  demonstrates  how  unspeakably  great  that  suffer- 
ing was,  at  that  moment  his  supplication  was  qualified 
by  the  feeling  and  expression  of  unreserved  acquies- 
cence in  the  will  of  God.  Three  several  times  did  he 
lift  up  this  voice  of  supplication,  but  as  often  did  he  re- 
sign himself  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  heavenly  Father. 
"  If  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  :  yet  not 
my  will  but  thine  be  done."  Such  is  the  spirit,  and 
such  is  the  conduct,  which  should  distinguish  us  when  we 
pray  to  God  in  the  midst  of  our  afflictions.  We  should 
recollect  that  these  afflictions  are  the  discipline  of  his 
providence ;  that  they  are  sent  to  us,  or  continued  with 


SER.  15.  PRAYER   IN   AFFLICTION.  311 

US,  in  the  exercise  not  merely  of  sovereign  power,  but 
of  unerring  wisdom,  of  tender  mercy,  of  unchangeable 
faithfulness ;  that  they  are  more  or  less  connected  with 
our  highest  interests  in  time  and  in  eternity ;  and  that 
however  difficult  we  may  find  it  to  bear  them,  yet  if  we 
bear  them  with  patience  and  submission,  they  will  prove 
in  the  end  to  be  blessings  far  richer  and  more  important 
than  the  health,  the  uninterrupted  prosperity,  the  unmin- 
gled  enjoyment  on  which  we  are  accustomed  to  set  so 
much  value.  Recollecting  these  things,  resignation,amidst 
our  most  painful  privations,  and  our  keenest  sorrows,  must 
be  deemed  equally  rational  and  dutiful.  And  not  one  wish 
should  be  conceived  by  us,  nor  one  petition  be  presented 
by  us,  for  deliv^erance  from  the  chastening  rod,  which  is 
not  modified  by  the  sentiment,  and  accompanied  by  the 
language  that  imparted  such  a  moral  charm  to  our  Lord's 
prayer  of  agony  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  Our 
afilictions  may  be  numerous,  and  poignant,  and  pro- 
tracted :  we  may  be  racked  with  pain,  or  we  may  be 
pining  away  under  the  power  of  a  lingering  disease  :  we 
may  be  subjected  to  all  the  hardships,  and  all  the  scorn 
of  unlocked  for  poverty :  we  may  be  lamenting  the 
misrepresentation,  and  reproach,  and  calumny  by  which 
our  good  name  has  been  obscured  or  blasted  :  we  may 
be  bending  in  painful  suspense  over  the  sick-bed  of 
one  whose  life  is  dear  to  us  as  our  own,  and  trembling 
lest  every  coming  moment  should  tear  from  us  the  ob- 
ject of  our  fondest  affection — and  in  the  midst  of  these 
trying  scenes  and  heart-rending  visitations,  we  are  per- 
mitted to  send  our  messenger  of  prayer  to  heaven,  to 
beseech  Almighty  God  to  visit  us  with  salvation,  and 
to  beseech  him  with  an  intensity  of  desire,  and  an  en- 
ergy of  language  proportioned  to  the  severity  of  what 
we  feel  and  fear.  But  still  our  prayers  are  defective, 
and  unbecoming,  and  unacceptable,  unless  they  convey 
the  homage  of  unaffected  and  unqualified  submission. 
We  may  obtain  what  we  ask,  but  it  may  prove  in  our 
sad  experience  to  be  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing.  We 
may,  as  to  the  subject  of  our  entreaties,  receive  "  beauty 


312  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.   15. 

for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness  ;"  but  at  the  same 
time  we  may  be  putting  away  from  us  the  gift  of  eternal 
life,  and  continuing  in  those  fatal  corruptions  from 
which  the  fire  of  affliction  was  intended  to  purify  and 
save  us.  And  thus  the  ordinance  of  prayer,  which  was 
appointed  to  help  us  to  "  work  out  our  salvation,"  may 
be  perverted  into  the  instrument  of  impatience,  ungod- 
liness, and  ruin.  Let  us,  therefore,  be  ready,  amidst 
all  our  distresses,  to  commit  our  lot  to  the  undisputed 
management  of  God.  Let  no  weight  of  trial  tempt  us 
to  withdraw  from  him  that  confidence  which  we  ought 
to  repose  in  the  dealings  of  infinite  perfection.  In  our 
saddest  experience,  let  us  cast  all  our  cares  and  all  our 
sorrows  upon  Him  "  who  careth  for  us,"  and  is  "  afflict- 
ed in  all  our  afflictions ;"  resting  assured  that  there  is 
both  wisdom  and  mercy  in  his  most  desolating  dispen- 
sations, though  a  dejected  and  distrustful  heart  would 
lead  us  to  suspect  that  his  wisdom  had  failed  in  its  ex- 
ercise, or  that  his  "  mercy  was  clean  gone  forever." 
And  while  we  address  to  him  the  prayer,  which  he 
himself,  as  the  Author  of  our  natural  frame,  has  taught 
us  to  utter,  and  to  which  the  example  of  his  own  Son 
has  given  a  high  and  sacred  sanction,  that  "  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, each  successive  cup  of  affliction  may  pass  from 
us,"  let  us  never  forget,  and  never  fail,  to  annex  the 
tribute  of  a  sincere,  enlightened,  and  entire  resigna- 
tion ;  "  nevertheless,  O  Lord,  not  my  will  but  thine  be 
done." 

3.  In  the  third  place,  our  prayer  in  the  time  of 
affliction  must  be  the  prayer  of  faith.  On  no  occasion 
can  we  expect  that  our  prayers  will  meet  with  a  favor- 
able reception  or  a  gracious  answer,  unless  they  be 
preferred  in  the  name  of  Christ.  All  intercourse  with 
God  is  forbidden  which  is  not  carried  on  through  the 
medium  of  Him,  who  alone  is  the  true  and  living  "  way 
to  the  Father."  Sin  has  separated  between  God  and 
us ;  and  it  is  by  the  mediation  of  his  own  Son,  that 
this  wall  of  separation  has  been  removed — that  recon- 


SER.  15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  31 3 

ciliation  with  the  divine  majesty  has  been  effected — 
tliat  the  throne  of  grace  has  been  made  accessible  to 
us.  And  when  we  apply  to  the  Almighty  for  any  bless- 
ing, the  application  must  be  made  in  a  dependance  upon 
the  merit  of  that  Saviour  who  has  "  made  peace  by  the 
blood  of  his  cross,"  and  through  whom  it  is  that  we  re- 
ceive the  spirit  of  adoption,  and  are  permitted  to  cry 
"  Abba  Father."  But  while  no  prayer,  except  a  be- 
lieving prayer,  can  at  any  time  be  effectual;  there  is  a 
peculiar  propriety  in  those  who  pray  while  they  are 
afflicted,  being  "strong  in  faith."  All  our  afflictions 
are  so  many  proofs  of  our  being  sinners,  and,  as  sin- 
ners, unworthy  of  the  divine  favor.  Had  there  been  no 
sin,  there  would  have  been  no  suffering.  And  there- 
fore, when  we  suffer,  we  have,  in  the  pain  and  sorrow 
we  endure,  an  unequivocal  demonstration  that  guilt  at- 
taches to  us  in  the  sight  of  God.  Guilt  and  suffering 
being  thus  associated  in  our  minds,  surely  we  cannot 
reasonably  pray  that  the  latter  may  be  removed  or  mit- 
igated, while  no  method  has  been  employed  to  expiate 
the  former,  or  while  we  do  not  acknowledge  the  method 
of  expiation  which  God  has  compassionately  provided. 
If,  therefore,  there  be  a  necessity  for  our  appealing  to 
the  merit  of  the  Redeemer,  in  order  that  our  applica- 
tion for  any  boon,  or  mercy  whatever,  may  be  attended 
with  success,  the  necessity  becomes  the  stronger  and 
more  obvious,  when  that  application  refers  to  afflictions 
— every  one  of  which,  whether  it  be  great  or  inconsid- 
erable, reminds  us  of  our  disobedience  and  alienation 
from  God,  is  a  standing  and  impressive  evidence  that 
we  can  expect  nothing  on  the  footing  of  personal  desert, 
and   shuts   us  up   conclusively  and   effectually,   to  the 


faith  of  Him  through  whom  alone  we  can  find  accept- 
ance, and  obtain  the  blessings  which  our  prayers  m- 
plore.  And  while  in  this  way  there  is  a  peculiar  pro- 
priety in  the  prayer  that  we  offer  in  reference  to  our 
afflictions,  being  that  of  faith,  there  is  also  a  peculiar 
encouragement  suggested  by  the  same  subject.  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whom  we  trust  for  the  efficacy  of  our  peii- 
27 


314  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.   15. 

tions,  was  a  suffering  Saviour :  it  was  by  suffering  that 
he  became  perfect  as  the  Author  of  our  redemption  ; 
and  it  is  because  he  suffered  in  our  nature  and  in  our 
stead,  that  lie  is  now  "  exalted  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high,"  and  that  "  he  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  us,"  and  that  we  are  promised  "  all 
things  whatsoever  we  shall  ask  in  prayer  believing." 
When,  therefore,  we  are  required  to  put  our  confidence 
in  him  for  attaining  that  comfort  and  support  in  afflic- 
tion, or  that  deliverance  from  it,  or  that  sanctified  use 
of  it,  which  we  supplicate  at  the  throne  of  grace, 
we  are  required  to  put  our  confidence  in  One  who 
"bore  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows" — who  was 
"  tempted  in  all  things  as  we  are" — who  is  "  touched 
with  a  fellow-feeling  of  our  infirmities,"  and  whose  ad- 
vocacy, therefore,  we  may  rest  assured,  will  be  quick- 
ened and  invigorated,  when  it  is  employed  to  enforce 
those  petitions  which  w^e  offer  up  as  the  children  of  dis- 
tress. In  these  circumstances,  let  us  think  devoutly  of 
all  that  Jesus  endured,  while  he  tabernacled  upon  earth : 
let  us  remember  that  though  the  days  of  his  mourning 
are  long  since  ended,  he  has  not  forgotten  the  waves 
and  the  billows  of  adversity  that  went  over  him  in  the 
days  of  his  flesh  :  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the  sympa- 
thies which  he  manifested  in  this  world  cannot  have 
forsaken  him  in  the  better  world  into  which  he  has  en- 
tered :  let  us  not  cease,  in  all  our  thoughts  of  him,  to 
associate  closely  and  intimately  his  present  mediation 
in  our  behalf,  with  his  former  suffering  in  our  behalf: 
and  when  we  cry  to  God  from  the  midst  of  our  troubles 
and  trials,  let  it  be  with  an  unwavering  and  delighted 
confidence  in  the  might,  and  in  the  compassion,  and  in 
the  tenderness  of  our  "  Great  High  Priest  who  has 
passed  into  the  heavens,"  and  who  there  pleads  our 
cause  as  earnestly  and  as  affectionately  as  if  it  were 
his  own. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  our  prayer  in  the  time  of 
affliction,  must  be  the  prayer  of  holiness.  The  apos- 
tolic precept  is,  that,  in  all  our  addresses  to  God,  we 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  315 

"  lift  up  holy  hands."  And  the  Psalmist  has  also  said, 
"If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not 
hear  me."  To  approach  God  in  prayer,  while  con- 
scious that  we  are  enemies  to  him  in  our  minds,  and  by 
tlie  habitual  course  of  our  conduct,  is  to  insult  the  purity 
and  majesty  of  his  character,  and  to  court  as  well  as  to 
incur  his  indignation.  While,  therefore  we  go  to  him 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  we  should  go  to  him  also  in  the 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit — repenting  of  our  sins,  and 
cherishing  holy  affections,  and  studying  conformity  to 
tlie  image  of  him  whom  we  profess  to  worship.  And 
much  more  should  this  be  the  case,  when  we  address 
ourselves  to  him  as  his  afflicted  offspring.  Our  afflic- 
tions, though  not  to  be  viewed  as  specific  punishments 
for  specific  transgressions,  are  yet,  agreeably  to  our 
former  remark,  to  be  regarded  as  tokens  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure against  sin,  and  as  significant  intimations  that 
he  will  be  "  sanctified  of  all  them  that  draw  near  to 
him."  When,  therefore  we  draw  near  to  him  in  afflic- 
tion, it  is  the  more  indispensable  that  we  do  so  with 
"clean  hands  and  with  pure  hearts;"  having  "our 
hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies 
washed  as  with  pure  water."  But  when  I  speak  of  our 
prayer  in  affliction  being  the  prayer  of  holiness,  I  refer 
chiefly  to  the  practical  and  ultimate  end  which  we 
ought  to  have  in  view.  "  This  is  the  will  of  God," 
when  he  lays  upon  us  his  chastening  hand,  "even  our 
sanctification."  And  this  is  an  object  of  vast  impor- 
tance. It  is  distinctly  set  before  us  as  the  object  which 
all  our  sufferings  are  appointed,  or  overruled,  to  pro- 
mote. And  consequently,  our  prayer,  when  we  are 
subjected  to  them,  should  point  to  it  constantly  and 
earnestly.  We  are  apt  to  be  contented  with  asking  the 
removal,  or  the  mitigation,  of  our  trials,  and  to  think 
that  all  is  well  when  we  obtain  either  the  one  or  the 
other.  But,  alas  !  we  have  gained  nothing  that  is  sub- 
stantially and  permanently  beneficial,  unless  they  have 
been  made  instrumental  in  improving  our  principles  and 
our  character ;   and  unless  from  our  experience  of  a 


316  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.  15. 

sanctified  result,  we  can  say  with  truth,  "  it  is  good  for 
us  that  we  have  been  afflicted."  Such  effects  as  these, 
are  precious  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  they  are  precious  to 
us  now,  and  they  will  be  precious  to  us  forever :  where- 
as a  mere  deliverance  from  pain  and  misfortune,  how- 
ever immediate,  and  however  complete,  has  no  neces- 
sary bearing  on  the  destiny  of  our  souls,  and  is  quite 
compatible  with  our  continuance  under  "  the  curse  of 
the  law,"  and  our  endurance  of  the  terrors  of  "  the 
second  death."  Let  us,  therefore,  keep  continually  in 
view  the  practical  benefits  which  our  afflictions  may  be 
the  means  of  securing ;  and  let  us  pray  that  we  may 
derive  from  them  all  the  advantage  which  they  are 
fitted  to  confer.  Let  us  pray  that  they  may  be  sancti- 
fied for  weaning  us  more  and  more  from  the  world  and 
from  sin — for  bringing  us  into  a  closer  walk  with  God, 
and  for  rendering  us  more  submissive  to  his  will,  and 
more  active  in  his  service.  Let  us  pray  that,  though 
for  the  present,  they  may  "  not  seem  joyous  but  griev- 
ous," yet  that,  cost  what  it  will  to  our  tenderest  feel- 
ings, they  may  work  out  for  us  the  "  peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness."  And  finally,  let  us  pray  that  they  may 
have  such  an  influence  on  our  whole  temper  and  our 
whole  conduct,  as  to  contribute  to  the  cultivation  of  that 
character  by  which  w^e  may  be  qualified  for  the  offices 
and  the  enjoyments  of  the  sinless  and  unsuffering  king- 
dom of  our  God  and  Saviour. 

5.  Lastly,  our  prayer  in  affliction  must  be  the  prayer 
of  hope.  Unless,  indeed,  we  had  hope  that  prayer 
would  be  attended  with  some  benefit,  we  should  scarcely 
think  of  engaging  in  it  at  all.  At  least,  our  engaging  in 
it  would,  on  the  contrary  supposition,  be  little  else  than 
obedience  to  arbitrary  authority,  and  would  speedily 
degenerate  into  cold  and  heartless  formality.  In  order 
to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  devotion,  and  to  render  our 
distresses  motives  instead  of  discouragements  to  it,  we 
should  keep  in  mind  not  only  the  blessings  which  are 
promised,  but  the  grounds  which  are  afforded  for  our 
confident  expectation  that  every  promise  will  be  fulfilled, 


BER.  15.  PRAYER   IN   AFFLICTION.  317 

and  that  nothing  will  be  withheld  which  our  real  interest 
requires.  Let  us  look  to  the  character  of  Him  to  whom 
our  afflicted  hearts  are  lifted  up  in  prayer.  Let  us  lis- 
ten to  the  gracious  and  animating  declarations  which  he 
has  given  in  his  word  on  this  subject.  Let  us  remem- 
ber the  merit  and  the  advocacy  of  his  Son,  through 
whom  he  condescends  to  regard  and  to  hear  us.  Let 
us  think  of  the  love  of  his  Spirit,  who  teaches  us  to  pray 
as  we  ought,  and  who  "  makes  intercession  for  us  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered."  And  let  us  re- 
member the  happy  experience  of  his  people  in  every 
age,  who  have  fled  to  him  in  the  season  of  their  adversi- 
ties, and  been  made  glad  at  the  throne  of  his  mercy  and 
in  his  house  of  prayer.  All  these  things  combine  to 
show,  that  so  far  from  having  any  reason  to  doubt  of  his 
lending  a  favorable  ear  to  our  requests  and  our  complaints, 
we  have  irresistible  inducements  for  anticipating  the 
most  compassionate  treatment — for  expecting  to  receive 
all  tliat  we  ask  and  all  that  we  need.  Let  us,  therefore, 
pray  in  hope  ;  and  thus  do  homage  to  the  grace  and  the 
faithfulness  of  him  upon  whom  we  call,  and  encourage 
ourselves  to  petition  for  a  supply  to  our  wants,  as  large 
and  as  liberal  as  their  multitude,  and  their  extent,  and 
their  complicated  variety,  may  demand.  Let  us  pray 
in  the  hope  that  God  will  "  bind  up  our  broken  hearts," 
and  "  strengthen  our  feeble  knees,"  and  heal  our  wound- 
ed spirits ;  and  that  if  he  should  not  see  meet  to  rescue 
us  from  the  sorrows  by  which  we  are  oppressed,  he 
would  give  us  strength  to  bear  them  with  fortitude  and 
patience.  Let  us  pray  in  the  hope,  that,  continuing  us 
in  the  furnace  of  affliction,  he  will  make  the  trial  sub- 
servient to  our  spiritual  purification  and  our  moral  ad- 
vancement. And  let  us  pray  in  the  hope  which  looks 
beyond  a  present  world — beyond  all  its  joys  and  all  its  af- 
flictions— which  "  enters  into  that  within  the  vail" — and 
fixes  its  longing  and  delighted  eye  on  "  the  rest  that  re- 
maineth  for  the  people  of  God,"  and  on  the  recompense 
of  those  who  have  "  come  through  much  tribulation," 
and  have  entered  into  glory. 
*27 


318  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SEB.   15. 

Thus  praying,  my  Christian  friends,  in  the  season  of 
affliction,  the  happiest  consequences  may  reasonably, 
may  confidently,  be  expected.  There  is  in  the  exer- 
cise itself  a  direct  and  manifest  tendency  to  produce 
beneficial  effects,  independently  of  any  specific  promises 
which  God  has  annexed  to  it.  It  implies  the  recogni- 
tion of  God  as  that  Being  by  whom  our  lot  in  the  world 
is  arranged,  and  to  whose  sovereign  rule  we  ourselves, 
and  all  that  we  have,  and  all  that  can  affect  our  feel- 
ings or  our  condition,  are  necessarily  and  unreservedly 
subject.  It  implies  the  serious  contemplation  of  those 
attributes  of  his  character,  and  of  those  ways  of  his 
providence,  which  are  calculated  to  reconcile  us  to 
every  thing  that  befals  us,  by  assuring  us  of  its  gracious 
purpose,  and  of  its  final  and  glorious  issue.  It  implies, 
in  the  various  views,  and  meditations,  and  petitions  with 
which  it  employs  the  mind,  the  union,  equally  soothing 
and  sanctifying,  of  our  severest  sufferings,  with  what- 
ever is  elevating  in  faith,  and  excellent  in  conduct,  and 
delightful  in  anticipation.  It  implies  the  assured  and 
gratifying  confidence  with  which,  as  the  children  of 
God,  we  pour  all  our  fears,  and  anxieties,  and  distres- 
ses into  the  bosom  of  our  heavenly  Father ;  and  repose 
our  wearied  and  agitated  hearts  on  the  manifestation  of 
his  paternal  character,  and  on  the  experience  of  his 
paternal  love  ;  and  combine,  in  all  the  tenderness  and 
in  all  the  energy  of  filial  affection,  the  faithful  discipline 
to  which  he  subjects  us  upon  earth,  with  the  holy  and 
unfading  inheritance  which  he  has  laid  up  for  us  in 
heaven. 

And,  while  such  is  the  native  and  blessed  influence 
of  prayer  in  the  season  of  affliction,  we  are  to  recollect, 
that  prayer  is  the  instituted  means  of  obtaining  from 
God  the  grace  that  is  necessary  to  support  and  comfort, 
to  sanctify  and  deliver  us.  We  have  no  tide  to  look 
for  any  blessing  fi-om  him,  except  through  its  instru- 
mentality. But,  if  we  engage  in  it  in  a  proper  spirit 
and  in  a  proper  manner,  he  is  pledged  by  the  wisdom 
of  his  plans  and  the  consistency  of  his  administration,  to 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  319 

grant  us  according  to  the  voice  of  our  petitions.  He 
commands  us  to  cry  to  him  in  the  midst  of  our  per- 
plexities and  sorrows ;  and  supposing  his  command- 
ment stood  alone  and  unconnected  with  any  promise, 
it  would  mean  nothing  less  than  that  our  cry  would  be 
kindly  and  compassionately  regarded.  Bat  there  is  a 
promise,  to  give  ardor  to  our  supplications  and  comfort 
to  our  hearts — a  promise  that  he  will  graciously  hear 
us,  and  that  he  will  send  us  an  answer  full  of  pity  and 
beneficence.  And  though  "  all  his  promises  are  yea 
and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus,"  yet  if  there  be  one  of  them 
on  whose  fulfilment  we  can  count  with  certainty,  it  is 
that  which,  as  "  the  Father  of  mercies  and  the  God  of 
all  consolation,"  he  holds  out  to  his  people,  when  they 
"call  upon  him  in  the  time  of  trouble."  He  may  not 
indeed,  be  pleased  to  give  them  those  precise  expres- 
sions of  his  regard,  which  they  make  the  object  of  their 
request.  They  may  have  asked  these  in  ignorance  or 
in  error,  and  it  may  be  a  part  of  the  very  mercy  which 
they  were  imploring  to  w^ithhold  them  for  a  time,  or  to 
withhold  them  altogether.  But  they  may  rest  assured, 
that  behind  this  cloud  of  grief  and  disappointment,  there 
is  a  love  which  melts  for  their  distresses — which  is 
lending  a  compassionate  ear  to  all  their  aspirations— 
which  is  silently,  but  effectually,  guarding  and  protect- 
ing and  blessing  them — and  which  is  minutely  providing 
for  them,  and  tenderly  applying  to  them,  every  thing 
that  is  truly  desirable,  either  as  to  their  state  of  feeling 
under  affliction,  or  as  to  their  character  upon  earth,  and 
their  felicity  in  heaven. 

Yes,  my  believing  friends,  when  you  were  bowed 
down  with  sorrow,  you  went  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  humility  and  submission,  and  in  the 
name  of  your  merciful  High  Priest,  you  besought  the 
Lord  to  interpose  in  your  behalf,  and  you  can  bear  the 
testimony  of  a  blessed  experience  to  the  readiness  with 
w^jich  he  hears,  and  to  the  liberality  with  which  he  an- 
swers, his  people,  when  diey  "  ciy  unto  him  out  of  the 
depths."     You  were  lightened  by  "  casting  your  bur- 


320  PRAYER    IN    AFFLICTION.  SER.   l5. 

den  upon  Him  who  has  promised  "  to  sustain  it."  You 
received  deeper  impressions  of  those  great  and  precious 
truths  which  he  has  revealed  for  the  comfort  of  them 
tliat  mourn.  You  heard,  as  it  were,  a  voice  from 
heaven  speaking  peace  to  your  troubled  mind.  You  • 
felt  yourselves  soothed  amidst  the  pains  which  harassed, 
and  raised  above  the  fears  which  agitated  you.  You 
obtained  strength  to  bear  with  fortitude  the  trials  with 
which  you  were  visited,  and  to  encounter  with  tranquil- 
lity the  ills  that  were  yet  to  beset  your  path  :  and  were 
enabled  not  only  to  endure  with  patience,  but  even  to 
"  rejoice  in  tribulation;"  to  bless  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
though  he  had  taken  from  you  your  dearest  earthly 
comforts;  to  mingle  with  the  saddest  notes  of  lamenta- 
tion, the  accents  of  gratitude  and  praise  to  him  whose 
rod  had  smitten  you ;  and  to  rise  from  your  knees, 
cheered  by  what  you  had  tasted  of  the  grace  of  God, 
"  encompassed  with  songs  of  deliverance,"  and  animated 
by  a  more  vigorous  and  more  lively  exercise  of  the 
hope  that  is  full  of  immortality." 

And  if  there  be  any  to  whom  all  this  is  rather  an  ob- 
ject of  desire  than  a  matter  of  experience ;  any  who 
have  been  afflicted,  and  who  have  prayed  and  have  not 
found  the  comfort,  or  the  relief,  or  the  benefit,  which 
they  asked  and  expected  ;  and  who  are  shedding  tears 
which  there  is  no  hand  to  wipe  away;  who  are  "  walk- 
ing in  darkness  and  have  no  light ;"  who  are  sufiering 
and  supplicating  and  suffering  still;  to  such  of  you  I 
would  say,  distrust  not  the  promises  of  your  God,  nor 
the  intercessions  of  your  Saviour :  "  follow  on  to  know 
the  Lord,"  and  you  shall  know  him  as  "  the  Hearer  of 
prayer,"  and  as  "  a  present  help  in  the  time  of  need  ;" 
wrestle,  as  did  Jacob,  with  "  the  Angel  of  his  pres- 
ence :"  be  importunate  with  him  as  was  the  widow  who 
"cried  day  and  night;"  and  sooner  or  later,  in  one 
form  or  in  another,  you  shall  find,  in  the  rest  and  com- 
fort which  are  imparled  to  your  soul,  tlrat  he  has  not 
forgotten,  but  has  been  "  waiting,  to  be  gracious."  And 
should  you  still  be  doomed  to  seek  rest  and  not  to  find 


SER.   15.  PRAYER    IN    ArFLICTION.  321 

it ;  should  the  earth  be  mourning  under  your  feet,  and 
the  heaven  above  you  be  clothed  with  blackness,  and 
should  even  the  shades  of  death  be  closing  in  upon  you, 
without  any  sensible  communication  of  divine  comfort, 
and  without  any  distinct  perception  of  the  reasonable- 
ness and  utility  of  your  afflictions,  notwithstanding  a 
thousand  and  a  thousand  intreaties  for  light  and  deliv- 
erance, even  then  I  would  say  to  you, — "  continue  in- 
stant in  prayer,  still  trust  in  God,"  still  bend  before  his 
throne  of  mercy,  and  still  cherish  the  hope  that  at 
length  he  will  give  you  complete  relief  and  everlasting 
consolation ;  that  the  prayers  of  suffering  mortality  shall 
ere  long  be  converted  into  the  anthems  of  unmingled 
praise ;  and  that,  in  the  unclouded  hght  of  heaven,  you 
shall  see  the  faithfulness  of  Him  whose  hand  had  here 
pressed  so  heavily  on  your  spirit ;  and  admire  the  wis- 
dom and  the  mercy  of  that  thorny  way  by  which  he 
had  led  you  to  your  eternal  home,  and  lift  up  the  song 
of  rapturous  and  never-ending  gratitude  to  him  for  those 
very  providences  which  here  had  well  nigh  overthrown 
your  faith,  and  well  nigh  broken  your  heart. 

But,  what  shall  I  say  to  those  who  are  strangers  to 
prayer;  who  habitually  neglect  this  duty;  and  who,wheth- 
er  in  joy  or  in  sorrow,  never  devoutly  look  up  to  God,  to 
thank  him  for  the  one,  or  to  supplicate  from  him  relief 
and  comfort  in  the  other  ?  Ah  !  my  friends,  if  you  are 
not  given  to  prayer ;  if  prayer  does  not  form  a  constit- 
uent part  of  your  religious  exercises ;  if  you  have  not 
its  spirit  dwelling  in  you  ;  and  if  it  does  not  hold  its  due 
place  in  your  character — ^)'ou  are  not  Christians,  and 
cannot  appropriate  the  promises,  or  look  forward  to  the 
inheritance,  unfolded  in  the  gospel.  You  may  call 
yourselves  by  what  name  you  please  ;  you  may  make 
the  most  specious  professions  before  the  world ;  you 
may  sit  down  with  great  outward  solemnity  at  the 
Lord's  Table ;  and  you  may  have  the  reputation,  and 
even  the  reality,  of  much  personal  virtue  and  much  ac- 
tive benevolence;  but  not  praying  to  God  who  com- 


322  PRAYER   IN   AFFLICTION.  SER.  15. 

mands  you  to  pray  to  him — not  making  use  of  this  ap- 
pointed method  of  obtaining  forgiveness,  and  sanctifica- 
tion,  and  eternal  life ;  you  must  necessarily  remain 
guilty  and  corrupted — children  of  wrath  and  heirs  of 
hell.  This  is  the  conclusion  that  the  word  of  God 
forces  upon  you,  and  from  which  no  ingenuity  can  en- 
able you  to  escape.  And  have  you  courage  to  rest  in 
this  conclusion  ?  Are  you  prepared  for  enduring  the 
gnawings  of  "  the  worm  that  never  dies,"  and  the  tor- 
ments of  "the  fire  that  is  never  quenched  ?"  Are  you 
ready  to  meet  in  judgment,  and  to  bear  through  eter- 
nity, the  vengeance  of  that  God  whose  commandment 
you  have  disobeyed,  and  whose  kindness  you  have  set 
at  nought?  None  of  you,  I  trust,  is  so  stout-hearted. 
"  Arise,  then,  and  call  upon  your  God."  "  Seek  him 
while  he  may  be  found,  call  upon  him  while  he  is  near." 
Delay  not  till  death  has  formed  an  impassable  gulf  be- 
tween you  and  your  Maker.  You  are  now  not  far 
from  the  graves  where  the  dust  of  many  of  your  fathers, 
and  your  neighbors,  and  your  friends,  is  reposing  in 
awful  and  unbroken  silence.  And  you  know  not  how 
soon — you  know  not  how  suddenly — your  dust  shall  be 
mingled  with  theirs.  O  then,  improve  this  the  "  day 
of  your  merciful  visitation" — and  "  harden  not  your 
hearts."  Live  no  longer  "  without  God  in  the  world." 
Let  it  not  be  said  of  any  one  of  you,  when  you  are 
sleeping  in  the  earth,  "This  is  the  grave  of  one  who 
once  had  free  access  to  the  throne  of  grace,  but  never 
went  to  it — never  bent  his  knees — never  lifted  up  his 
eye  to  heaven — never  uttered  a  devout  petition — never 
conceived  one  cordial  wish  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 
And  now  the  ear  of  mercy  is  shut,  and  the  power  of 
addressing  it  is  gone  forever."  O  thoughtless  and 
prayerless  sinner,  return  unto  Him  whom  you  have  for- 
saken, and  away  from  whom  you  can  have  no  comfort 
in  distress,  no  happiness  in  life,  no  hope  at  the  hour  of 
dissolution.  Return  to  him — return  to  him  with  your 
whole  heart ;  return  to  him  through  Jesus  Christ,  who 


SER.   15.  PRi^YER   IN   AFFLICTION.  323 

is  the  true  and  living  way ;  and  he  will  "  receive  you 
graciously" — he  will  "love  you  freely" — he  will  put 
into  your  heart  "  the  spirit  of  grace  and  supplication" — 
he  will  guide  you  through  the  wilderness  in  which  you 
are  now  wandering  with  heedless  steps ;  and  he  will  at 
length  conduct  you  into  the  land  of  promise  and  of 
eternal  rest. 


SERMON    XVL 


THE    PENITENT'S    PRAYER. 

JEREMIAH  xvii.  14. 

"  Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  saved,^^ 

These  are  the  words  of  a  true  penitent.  It  is  probable 
that  they  were  used  by  the  Prophet,  in  reference  to  the 
persecutions  in  which  he  was  involved,  as  a  messenger 
of  God,  and  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  But  if  they 
were  rightly  employed  by  him,  when  exposed  to  out- 
ward or  partial  dangers,  with  still  greater  propriety  may 
they  be  employed  by  those  who  feel  that  they  are  sub- 
ject to  all  the  evils  and  perils  which  sin  brings  upon  its 
votaries.  And  it  is  in  this  application  that  we  propose 
to  make  them  the  si*bject  of  our  present  discourse. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  then,  we  may  regard  them  as 
expressing  a  deep  concern  about  salvation,  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  obtain  it. 

Every  man's  real  state  as  a  sinner  consists  in  his  be- 
ing under  a  sentence  of  condemnation  and  under  the 
dominion  of  depravity  ;  and  in  his  being  liable,  in  a 

*  Preached  in  St.  Georj^e's  Church,  before  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  on  Sabbath,  5th  November,  1825. 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  325 

future  world,  to  all  the  threatened  and  dreadful  conse- 
quences of  his  violation  of  the  divine  law.  This  is  the 
fact  'y  though  it  often,  alas !  too  often,  happens  that 
those  with  respect  to  whom  it  is  most  undeniably  true, 
are  either  not  aware  of  it,  or  not  alive  to  it ;  and  though 
continuing  to  be  thus  ignorant,  or  thus  careless,  they 
have  nothing  to  expect  but  final  and  inevitable  ruin. 

All,  however,  are  not  so  insensible  to  the  horrors 
of  their  situation.  There  are  some  who  have  been 
awakened  to  a  conviction  of  their  sin  and  misery,  who 
not  merely  acknowledge  that  they  are  transgressors, 
but  are  roused  to  a  serious  and  alarming  view  both  of  the 
degradations  and  of  the  perils  which  are  attached  to 
that  character,  and  who  are  oppressed  by  an  overpow- 
ering perception,  and  a  deep  unconquerable  feeHng,  of 
the  helplessness  and  hopelessness  of  their  fallen  condi- 
tion. In  such  circumstances  there  exists  a  strong  and 
restless  anxiety  to  be  delivered  from  the  evils  with 
which  their  consciences  are  burdened,  and  from  that 
everlasting  destruction  into  which  sin  will  ultimately 
plunge  its  victims,  and  which  rises  up  before  them  as 
the  fate  to  which  they  are  jusdy  doomed.  Looking  up 
to  God,  and  beholding  in  him  the  Being  whose  will 
they  have  disobeyed,  whose  goodness  they  have  des- 
pised, whose  indignation  they  have  provoked  ;  looking 
forward  to  futurity,  and  realizing  "the  judgment  of  the 
great  day,"  "  the  worm  that  never  dies,"  and  "  the  fire 
tltat  never  shall  be  quenched  ;"  and  calling  to  mind, 
and  dwelling  upon,  the  multitude  of  circumstances  by 
which  their  guilt  has  been  aggravated,  and  by- which 
their  punishment  shall  be  increased  ;  how  dreadful  the 
apprehensions  by  which  they  are  agitated  !  how  poig- 
nant their  distress,  how  intense  and  vehement  their  de- 
sire for  deliverance  from  die  divine  displeasure,  and 
from  "  the  wrath  to  come  !" 

But  the  true   penitent  is  troubled   not  merely  at  the 

thought  of  condemnation  ;    nor    does    he   confine   his 

longings  to  deliverance   from  it.     The  wrath  to   which 

he  is  exposed  may  be  first  and  uppermost  in  his  mind ; 

28 


326  THE  penitent's  prayer.  ser.  IG, 

nor  are  we  to  wonder  that  for  a  season  it  should  absorb 
every  other   consideration,  and   that   it  should  never 
cease  to  occupy  a  large  portion  of  his  anxiety.     But 
his  views  of  salvation  are  much  more  enlarged.     He 
adverts  not  merely  to  the  greatest  and  most  overwhelm- 
mz  of  the  calamities  of  which  his  sinfulness  is  produc- 
l^[yQ — he  regards  every  one  of  them  with  proportional 
concern,  and  is  solicitous  for  its  removal.     He  not  only 
cherishes  a  lively  aversion  to  all  that  stings  him  with 
remorse,  or  that  fills  him  with  alarm ;  he  mourns  also 
the  loss  of  those  positive  blessings  of  which  his  apostacy 
has  deprived  him,  and  thirsts  for  their  recovery.     He 
limits  not  his   attention  to   any  one   department  of  his 
sinful  and  miserable  estate,  nor  treats  the  most  incon- 
siderable portion  of  it  with  coldness  or  unconcern ;  he 
surveys  it  through  all  its  variety  and  extent,  and  feels 
alive  to  all  the  fears  it  is  fitted  to  create,  and  to   all  the 
pain  it  is  fitted  to  inflict,  and  to   all  the  solicitude  it  is 
fitted   to  awaken.     And  salvation,  in  its  most  compre- 
hensive import,  becomes  the   object  of  his   intensest 
interest  and  of  his  fondest  affection,  as  implying  his 
emancipation  from  all  that  is  most  formidable,  and  his 
attainment  of  all  that  is  most  precious,  to  a  fallen  but 
immortal  nature.     The   anxiety   of  which  he  is  con- 
scious is  not  merely  to  escape  from  hell ;  as  if,  escaping 
from  hell,  he   were  careless  about  his  future   destiny ; 
he  knows  that  he  has  lost  heaven,  the  place  of  happi- 
ness and   purity,  for  which  he  was  originally  formed, 
and  which  is  worthy  of  his  best  ambition,  and  he  is  de- 
sirous to  regain  it.     It  is  not  merely  to  be  relieved  from 
the  terror  of  God's  anger,  as  if,  would  God  but  cease 
to  frown  on  him,  he  were  careless  how  God  might  re- 
gard him  otherwise ;  but  to  be  reconciled  to  him   and 
to  "  walk  in  the  light  of  his  countenance,"  from   the 
persuasion  that  this  would  be  alike  his  honor  and  his 
joy.     It  is  not  merely  to  be  restored  to  the  favor  of 
God,  and  to  the  hope  of  heaven,  as  if  he  would  be  sat- 
isfied to  have  these  along  with  the  gratification  of  still 
unmortified  passions,  and  the  possession  of  a  still  rebel- 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  327 

lious  heart ;  but  to  be  renewed  and  purified  as  well  as 
pardoned  and  accepted ;  to  be  rescued  from  the  bond- 
age of  corruption,  as  well  as  from  the  curse  of  the  law; 
to  be  introduced  into  the  liberty  of  God's  children, 
as  well  as  made  an  heir  of  their  inheritance ;  to  be 
made  fit  for  holding  communion  with  God  here,  by  the 
removal  at  once  of  guilt  and  of  pollution,  and  to  have  this 
as  a  foretaste  of  that  more  perfect  and  blissful  fel- 
lowship which  his  people  are  to  maintain  with  him 
hereafter. 

We  do  not  say  that  all  these  views  occur  to  the  true 
penitent,  at  the  very  first  stage  of  his  transition,  or  that 
they  ever  occur  to  him  in  the  precise  and  methodical 
order  in  which  we  have  stated  them.  There  may  be  a 
considerable  indistinctness  with  regard  to  many  partic- 
ulars which  have  a  place  in  his  mind,  and  by  which  his 
mind  is,  notwithstanding,  in  no  small  degree  affected. 
It  may  be  long  before  certain  points,  even  of  material 
moment,  come  into  his  contemplation,  or  attract  much 
of  his  notice,  or  strongly  influence  his  heart.  And  all 
along  the  prevailing  sentiment  may  frequently  be  an 
awful  apprehension  of  God's  vengeance  against  the  sin- 
ner, and  of  the  hazard  in  which  he  individually,  as  a 
sinner,  stands,  of  falling  into  perdition.  But  though  he 
must  be  chiefly  occupied  with  the  great  leading  features 
of  his  condition,  as  one  who  has  incurred  the  penalty  of 
hell,  and  forfeited  his  right  to  heaven ;  and  though  the 
contemplation  of  these  is  sufiicient  to  stir  up  his  soul  to 
serious  reflection  and  distressing  anxiety  on  the  subject 
of  his  personal  salvation,  yet  he  will  not  rest  satisfied 
with  any  thing  short  of  a  full  detailed  consideration  of 
all  the  mischiefs  from  w^iich  that  salvation  will  free  him, 
and  of  all  the  benefits  to  which  it  will  restore  him.  And 
tlie  longer  and  the  more  minutely  he  meditates  upon 
these,  the  more  importance  will  he  attach  to  the  salva- 
tion that  he  needs,  the  more  necessary  will  he  perceive 
it  to  be  to  his  welfare,  the  more  heartfelt  will  be  his 
concern,  and  the  more  decided  his  desire  to  obtain  it. 


328  THE  penitent's  prayer.  ser.  16. 

II.  The  true  penitent  being  thus  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  his  need  of  salvation,  and  to  unfeigned  and  anxious 
concern  about  obtaining  it,  he  applies  for  it  to  Almighty 
God.     "Save  me,  O  Lord." 

Before  he  was  brought  to  think  seriously  of  his  situ- 
ation, and  to  see  his  guilt  and  his  danger,  God  was  no 
more  the  object  of  his  depend ance,  than  he  was  the 
object  of  his  veneration.  He  neither  recognised  Him 
as  the  ruler  of  his  conduct,  nor  as  the  source  of  his 
blessings,  but  habitually  disregarded  him  when  he  need- 
ed help,  as  he  habitually  disobeyed  him,  when  passion 
prompted,  or  when  temptation  occurred.  But  now 
that  his  sinfulness,  and  the  peril  with  which  it  threatens 
him,  are  brought  home  to  his  inmost  conviction — now 
that  he  discovers  an  evil  impending  over  him,  which 
human  skill  and  human  strength  are  equally  unable  to 
avert — now^  that  he  is  made  aware  of  his  absolute  need 
of  blessings  which  lie  beyond  his  utmost  reach — now 
that  he  feels  himself  so  situated  as  that  no  resources  of 
his  own,  no  help  from  the  mightiest  of  his  fellow-men, 
nor  even  the  interposition  of  the  highest  of  created  be- 
ings, can  prevent  him  from  falling  into  irretrievable  ruin 
— he  turns  his  eye  to  that  God  Vvhom  he  has  so  long 
forgotten,  and  so  much  despised,  and  perceives  in  Him 
the  grace  and  the  power  from  which  alone  he  can  ex- 
pect the  salvation  he  requires. 

This  may  be  an  immediate,  or  it  may  be  a  more 
tardy,  result  of  his  convictions  of  guilt  and  wretchedness 
as  a  transgressor ;  but  sooner  or  later  it  is  the  conse- 
quence of  these  convictions,  and  forms  the  termination 
of  his  anxieties,  and  the  resting  place  of  his  soul.  Per- 
haps he  obtains  such  a  striking  and  impressive  view  of 
his  miserable  condition  by  sin,  and  is  so  overborne  by  a 
sense  of  his  utter  inability  to  do  any  thing  for  himself, 
and  is  so  satisfied  that  he  has  nothing  to  hope  for  from 
the  arm  of  created  strength,  and  has  been  so  much  ac- 
customed to  hear  God  spoken  of  as  merciful  and  omnip- 
otent, and  so  willingly  and  readily  believes  all  that  the 
scriptures  have  declared  respecting  these  attributes,  and 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER,  329 

is  withal  so  guided  and  determined  by  the  teaching  of 
the  divine  Spirit,  who  is  with  him  in  every  step  of  his 
progress — that  he  is  led  at  once  and  without  hesitation 
to  cast  his  regards  towards  Jehovah,  and  to  trust  in  Him 
and  in  Him  exclusively  for  salvation.  Or  it  may  not 
be  till  after  various  struggles  and  repeated  disappoint- 
ments— till  he  has  tried  to  pacify  his  conscience  by 
thinking  lightly  of  his  worst  sins,  and  fondly  of  his  seem- 
ing virtues — till  he  has  thrown  himself  upon  time  or 
chance,  or  something  else  as  vain  and  empty — it  may  not 
be  till  after  such  experiments  as  these  to  which  the  car- 
nal mind  is  so  apt  to  cling  pertinaciously  and  perversely, 
that  he  looks  to  God  as  his  only  refuge,  and  turns  to 
him  as  his  strong  hold  in  the  midst  of  agitation  and 
trouble.  In  this  case,  it  is  but  gradually  that  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  those  helps  to  which  he  had  recourse,  is 
made  apparent  to  him.  One  of  them  after  another,  he 
feels  to  be  unsuitable  and  inadequate.  He  finds  that 
he  has  nothing  approaching  to  rest  or  peace,  except  in 
those  moments  when  he  is  favored  with  a  glimpse  of 
divine  compassion.  And  at  last  he  turns  his  back  on  all 
*'  the  refuges  of  lies"  which  had  only  deceived  and  per- 
plexed him,  and  concludes  the  spiritual  strife  which 
wrought  within  him,  by  committing  himself  with  hope 
and  with  confidence  to  the  Lord  his  God. 

At  whatever  period  he  is  brought  to  this  issue,  he 
cannot  but  be  convinced,  that  in  it,  and  in  no  other,  can 
he  find  deliverance  and  repose.  It  must  be  obvious  to  him 
that  whatever  else  has  invited  his  affiance,  or  promised 
him  relief,  has  only  been  deluding  him ;  for  as  it  is 
against  God  that  he  has  sinned,  and  to  God  that  he  is 
accountable,  nothing  can  possibly  screen  him  from  the 
proper  consequences  of  his  guik,  which  does  not  orig- 
inate in  the  authoritative  appointment  and  good  pleasure 
of  God.  It  is  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  God  to  deter- 
mine whether  sinners  shall  be  saved  at  all,  and  if  so,  by 
what  means  that  operation  of  his  sovereignty  shall  be 
accomplished,  and  to  whom,  amidst  the  multitude  of 
transgressors,  the  high  privilege  shall  be  granted.  When, 
^28 


330  THE  penitent's  prayer.  ser.  16. 

therefore,  the  awakened  sinner  turns  away  his  thoughts 
and  liis  reliance  from  God,  he  can  experience  nothing 
but  failure  and  disappointment.  And  indeed,  whenever 
he  allows  himself  to  look  steadily  at  his  mental  inquie- 
tudes, he  must  be  sensible  that  they  all  arise  from  a 
consciousness  of  having  offended  God ;  and  thus  the 
very  circumstance  which  constitutes  his  need  of  deliv- 
erance, and  makes  him  so  anxious  to  obtain  it,  necessa- 
rily directs  his  view  to  God,  as  the  only  source  from 
which  it  can  be  derived. 

But  the  true  penitent  is  not  only  so  hedged  in,  that 
he  must  either  apply  to  God,  or  perish  in  his  iniquities; 
he  is  also  persuaded  to  make  that  application,  by  the 
comfortable  and  encouraging  representations  of  the  di- 
vine character  that  are  set  before  him  in  the  gospel. 
This  indeed  is  essential  to  his  making  that  application, 
m  a  right  spirit,  and  with  uhimate  success.  Did  he  see 
nothing  in  the  divine  character  but  holiness  to  hate  sin, 
and  justice  to  award  condemnation,  and  omnipotence  to 
execute  the  sentence  on  the  guilty,  he  could  scarcely 
dare  to  address  himself  to  the  Being,  of  w^hom  these  at- 
tributes were  the  sole  characteristics,  for  any  redemption 
from  his  misery.  This  would  be  more  like  ihe  effect  of 
mad  despair,  than  the  expression  of  natural  feeling,  or 
of  rational  purpose,  and  could  never  be  expected  either 
to  impart  comfort,  or  to  terminate  in  salvation.  But 
the  true  penitent  has  been  enabled  to  entertain  more 
correct  and  honorable  view^s  of  the  perfections  of  God. 
God  is  indeed  revealed  to  his  mind  as  holy,  and  just, 
and  powerful ;  but  with  these  attributes  the  contemplation 
of  which  is  so  directly  calculated  to  convince  him  of  his 
perilous  and  miserable  state  as  a  sinner,  there  is  con- 
joined the  richest  mercy,  and  the  tendercst  compassion, 
which  forbid  him  to  sink  into  despondency,  or  to  regard 
himself  as  utterly  abandoned  to  wretchedness.  Nay,  it  is 
the  knowledge  that  such  mercy  and  compassion  belong 
to  God,  and  compunction  for  having  aggravated  his  guilt 
by  perseverance  in  sin,  while  such  mercy  and  compas- 
sion were  so  often  displayed  before  his  eyes,  and  exer- 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  331 

cised  towards  himself,  that  inflict  upon  his  conscience 
the  bitterest  pangs  he  is  now  doomed  to  feel.  In  this 
way,  the  very  occasion  of  his  most  poignant  sorrow,  and 
of  his  most  dreadful  anticipations,  is  also  the  occasion 
of  his  looking  to  God,  and  trusting  in  Him  for  salvation, 
by  reminding  him  that  He  whose  displeasure  he  has 
incurred,  and  whose  wrath  he  has  so  much  reason  to 
fear,  is  no  more  relentless  than  he  is  unrighteous,  and 
that  notwithstanding  all  the  provocations  he  has  received 
from  his  apostate  children,  and  all  their  contempt  of  his 
law,  and  ingratitude  for  his  forbearance,  he  has  not  for- 
gotten to  pity  them,  and  has  not  allowed  their  perverse- 
ness  to  quench  his  love,  but  has  this  for  his  unchangeable 
memorial,  that  he  is  "the  Lord,  the  Lord  God, merciful 
and  gracious,  long-suffering  and  slow  to  anger,  abundant 
in  goodness  and  in  truth."  Nor  does  the  true  penitent 
rest  contented  with  general  impressions  of  God's  com- 
passion to  sinners,  and  of  his  willingness  to  save  them. 
He  takes  that  nearer,  and  still  more  interesting,  view  of 
the  subject  which  is  afforded  by  the  dispensation  of  the 
gospel.  There  God  is  revealed  as  not  only  declaring 
that  he  is  ready  to  extend  forgiveness  to  the  guilty,  but 
as  embodying  his  declarations  in  a  plan  for  their  re- 
demption— as  giving  his  own  Son  to  be  a  sacrifice  of 
atonement  for  the  sin  of  the  world — as  making  every 
provision  which  unbounded  goodness  could  djctate  for 
the  accomplishment  of  his  benevolent  design — as  assur- 
ing us  that  CJiristwhom  he  has  appointed  to  execute  it, 
is  commissioned  to  save  even  the  chief  of  sinners — as 
affectionately  inviting  the  most  unworthy,  and  the  most 
helpless  to  come  to  him  by  that  "new  and  living  way" 
w^hich  he  has  opened  up  for  their  approach,  and  as  con- 
straining them  to  accept  of  the  invitation  by  the  gracious 
assurance  that  he  has  "no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked,"  but  would  rather  that  they  should  "  turn  to 
him  and  live."  And,  to  God  revealed  to  him  in  this 
endearing  light — to  God  in  whom  "  mercy  rejoiceth 
against  judgment,"  and  who  has  said  and  demonstrated 
that  he  will  not  reject  even  the  guiltiest  of  our  race  that 


332  THE  penitent's  prater.  ser.  16. 

comes  to  him  through  the  appointed  Mediator — it  is  im- 
possible that  the  true  penitent  should  look  with  any  portion 
of  indifference  or  distrust,  or  that  he  should  go  to  Him 
with  reluctance  or  with  jealousy,  or  that  he  should  not 
surrender  himself  to  Him,  in  the  humble  but  assured  hope 
that  He  will  be  to  him  the  rock  of  his  salvation.  The 
nature  and  exigency  of  his  situation  compel  him  to  have 
recourse  to  God  as  alone  able  to  deliver  him.  The  divine 
mercy  exhibited  in  the  gospel  encourages  him  to  put  his 
confidence  in  God,  as  perfectly  willing  to  bestow  the 
deliverance  he  is  so  anxious  to  attain.  Every  new  proof 
that  he  discovers  of  God's  kindness  gives  him  a  more 
forcible  impression  of  the  heinousness  of  his  guilt  and  of 
the  folly  of  his  conduct,  and  shows  him  still  more  clearly 
how  much  he  must  lose  by  remaining  in  a  state  of 
alienation  and  impenitence,  and  thus  adds  a  fresh  and 
double  impulse  to  the  anxiety  that  he  feels,  and  the  de- 
sire that  he  cherishes,  for  pardon  and  reconciliation. 
It,  therefore,  becomes  the  spontaneous,  and  the  pre- 
dominant, and  the  continued  out-going  of  his  affections, 
"  Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  saved." 

III.  This  leads  me  to  observe,  in  the  third  place,  that 
the  true  penitent  applies  to  God  for  salvation  through 
the  medium  of  prayer,  "  Save  me,  O  Lord." 

In  ordinary  cases,  if  we  be  laboring  under  the  pres- 
sure of  any  evil,  and  be  acquainted  with  any  individual 
who  is  both  willing  and  able  to  remove  it:  Or,  if  we  have 
trespassed  against  a  fellow-mortal,  whose  displeasure 
we  are  anxious  to  turn  away,  and  whose  friendship  we 
are  anxious  to  regain,  and  on  whose  inclination  to  be 
reconciled  we  have  reason  to  depend :  In  these,  and  in 
all  similar  instances,  we  invariably  employ  the  language 
of  petition — we  ask  what  we  wish  to  have,  and  what  we 
believe  there  is  a  disposition  to  give.  And  he  who  in 
such  circumstances  should  neglect  that  mode  of  attain- 
ing his  object  would  be  accounted  foolish,  or  insincere, 
or  inconsistent.  In  like  manner,  it  cannot  be  supposed 
that  the  sinner  shoidd  have  his  eyes  open  to  see  the 
awful  hazard  which  encompasses  him  as  a  rebel  against 


SER.  16.      THE  penitent's  PRAYER.  333 

heaven — that  he  should  be  full  of  the  alarm  which  that 
object  is  so  powerfully  fitted  to  excite — that  he  should 
be  truly  desirous  to  escape  from  the  destruction  that  is 
about  to  overtake  him,  and  to  obtain  the  blessings  of 
pardon,  and  sanctification,  and  eternal  life  which  stand 
opposed  to  it — that  he  should  give  full  credit  to  God's 
testimony,  and  pay  due  homage  to  God's  character  when 
he  provides,  and  promises,  and  offers  to  him  all  that  can 
secure  his  safety  and  his  happiness ;  and  yet,  that  he  should 
not  beseech  God  to  impart  to  him  what  he  so  absolutely 
needs,  and  what  God  is  so  ready  to  bestow.  This  can- 
not be  supposed.  It  is  quite  unnatural.  It  never  did 
happen,  and  it  never  can  happen.  Piety,  in  all  its 
forms,  and  at  all  its  stages,  finds  its  utterance  in  prayer. 
And  this  is  especially  its  utterance  when  connected  with 
the  experience  of  calamities  that  must  be  taken  away, 
or  of  wants  that  must  be  supplied.  The  moment  that 
the  sinner  feels  the  real  burden  of  his  transgressions, 
and  is  made  fully  sensible  of  his  need  of  divine  mercy, 
that  moment  he  as  naturally,  and  as  necessarily,  cries 
to  God,  for  the  requisite  communications,  as  the  hungry 
child  craves  bread  from  its  bountiful  parent,  or  as  the 
condemned  criminal  supplicates  pardon  from  his  com- 
passionate sovereign.  A  man  may  ask  forgiveness,  while 
destitute  of  the  emotions  and  workings  of  genuine  re- 
pentance. But  tliat  request  is  just  as  indispensable  to 
the  true  penitent  as  any  one  feeling  by  which  his  heart 
is  pervaded,  or  any  one  action  by  which  his  conduct  is 
distinguished.  If  you  can  say  of  any  sinner,  "Behold 
he  repenteth,"  you  may  say,  at  the  same  moment,  and 
with  equal  certainty,  "  Behold  he  prayeth  !" 

And  the  penitent  transgressor  not  only  feels  his  heart 
naturally  lifted  up  to  God  in  prayer,  when  convinced 
that  it  is  he  "  from  whom  cometh  his  aid  ;"  he  also  ap- 
plies in  that  way,  in  conformity  to  the  divine  institution. 
He  knows  that  prayer  is  the  appointed  method  of  seek- 
ing for  and  obtaining  the  blessings  of  salvation.  It  is 
sanctioned  and  ordained  by  that  very  Being  to  whom 
he  is  to  be  indebted  for  "  every  good  and  perfect  gift.'' 


334       THE  penitent's  prayer.    ser.  16. 

Disregarding  it,  he  is  aware  that  all  his  guilt  will  remain 
uncancelled,  and  all  his  spiritual  necessities  unsupplied. 
But  employing   it  aright,    he  has  the    assurance  that 
nothing  shall  be  withheld  which  is  essential  to  his  wel- 
fare.    He  is  too  much  humbled  under  the  weight  of  his 
demerit — too  much  mortified  by  the  folly  and  the  way- 
wardness of  his  past  doings — too  much  shut  up  to  a  de- 
pendance  on  divine  wisdom  and  divine  bounty,  for  the 
deliverance   for  which  he  so   deeply  sighs,  to  have  any 
disrelish  for  the  ordinance  by  which  his  offended  Maker 
has  seen  proper  that  he  shall  acknowledge  his  unworthi- 
ness  and  destitution,  and  procure  those  benefits  to  which 
he  has  otherwise  no  just  title,  and  which  must  come  to 
him  from  the  Hearer  of  prayer,  or  not  come  at  all.     Far 
from  objecting  to  it,  he  acquiesces  in  it  with  cheerfulness 
and  gratitude.     He  regards  it  as  a  token  of  the  conde- 
scension and  kindness  of  his  heavenly  Father.     He  re- 
cognises in  it  a  wise,  as  well  as  a  merciful,  adaptation  to 
the  feelings  which  animate  him,  and  to  the  situation  in 
which  he  stands.     He  feels  that  he  is  a  criminal,  self- 
condemned   and  self-abased,  trembling,  yet  hoping,  in 
the   presence  of  that  God  who   at  once  hates   sin  and 
pities  the  sinner.     He  is  aware  that  his  weakness,  his 
blindness,  his   degeneracy,  require  that  his  intercourse 
with  the  Eternal  shall  pass  through  a  channel  so  level 
to  his  apprehension  and  so  suited  to  his  case,  as  that  of 
prayer  and   supplication.     He,  therefore,  goes  at  once 
to  the  throne  of  grace ;  pours  out  the  convictions,  and 
confessions,  and  desires  of  a  broken  and  contrite  heart ; 
makes  all  his  requests  known  to  God,  who  has  declared 
tliat  he  will  "  regard   the  prayer  of  the  destitute,"  and 
not  despise  it ;  and  asks  that  he   may  receive  "  mercy 
to  pardon  him,  and  grace  to  help  him   in  his  time  of 
need."     "  Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  saved." 

But  while  the  true  penitent  prays  for  salvation  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  his  prayer  is  the  prayer  of  faith. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  sinners  who  are  in  some 
measure  alarmed  by  a  sense  of  their  manifold  trespasses, 
and  by  the  threatenings  of  death  and  punishment  which 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  335 

the  divine  law  denounces  against  them,  do  betake  them- 
selves to  the  mercy  of  God,  and  do  entreat  his  forgive- 
ness.    But  their  notions  of  that  mercy  are  vague,  and 
unscriptural,  and  derogatory  both  to  its  nature   and  its 
perfection  as  a  divine  attribute ;  their  entreaties  for  for- 
giveness therefore  are  destitute  of  that  meaning,  and  of 
those  accompaniments,  without  which  they  can  neither  be 
acceptable  nor  successful.     They  do  not  trust  in  God's 
mercy,  as  it  is  made  known  to  them  in  his  own  revela- 
tion :  they  do  not  pray  according  to  the  instructions  he 
has  given,  and  in  submission  to  the  appointments  he 
has  made.     It  is  not  the  salvation  of  the  gospel  of  which 
they  feel  their  need,  or  about  which  they  are  concerned  ; 
it  is  not  the  salvation  of  the  gospel  which  they  implore ; 
and  accordingly  it  is  not  the  salvation  of  the  gospel, 
which  they  can  ever  attain.     They  know  not  God,  as 
a  God  of  mercy,  for  they  know  not  Christ,  in  whom 
alone  he  is  merciful;    and  confiding  in  God,  and  ap- 
plying to  him  for  mercy,  without   reference  to  Christ, 
through  whom  alone  it  is  either  revealed  or  promised, 
they  are  as  far  from  the  forgiveness  which  they  profess 
to  aspire  after,  as  if  they  had  never  passed  one  thought 
upon  it,  or  uttered  one  petition  for  it.     Very  different, 
however,  are  the  sentiments  entertained,  and  the  course 
pursued,  by  the  true  penitent,  when  he  "  cries  out  of 
the  depths,"  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."     No 
doubt  this  supplication  is  dictated  by  a  sense  of  danger 
and  a  desire  for  safety ;  but  it  is  accompanied  with  an 
enlightened  view  of  the   attributes  of  God,  and  of  the 
manner  in  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  manifest  his 
compassion  to  guilty  men.     He  knows  that  it  is  for 
Christ's  sake  that  the  divine  Being  is  willing  to  pardon 
and  redeem,  because  it  is  only  in  that  way  that  he  can  do 
so  consistently  with  the  honor  of  his  character  and  his 
government ;  and  therefore  it  is  only  in  the  name  of 
Christ  that  he  ventures  to  approach  the   divine  pres- 
ence, and  only  in  reliance  on  the  merits  of  Christ  that 
he  ventures  to  ask  the  blessings  of  forgiveness  and  ac- 
ceptance.    And,  indeed,  such  now  are  his  views  of  the 


836       THE  penitent's  prayer.    ser.  16. 

evil  of  sin,  and  such  his  regards  towards  the  God  to 
whom  he  addresses  himself,  that  he  would  not  think  of 
asking  any  communication  from  him  except  on  such 
terms  as  would  maintain  the  divine  authority  inviolate, 
and  the  divine  glory  untarnished.  Nor  does  he  feel 
himself  under  any  temptation  to  put  up  a  single  prayer 
tliat  would  in  the  least  degree,  or  in  any  respect,  demand 
such  a  sacrifice.  In  consequence  of  what  Christ  has 
done  and  suffered,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
in  behalf  of  perishing  sinners,  God  is  ''rich  in  mercy 
and  plenteous  in  redemption  to  all  that  call  upon  his 
name."  There  is  nothing  which  they  need,  and  which 
He  may  not  dispense  so  as  at  once  to  satisfy  them  and 
glorify  himself.  And  therefore  the  believing  penitent 
draws  near  to  Him,  in  the  spirit  and  attitude  of  an  hum- 
ble, yet  hoping,  suppliant ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  that 
faith  which  embraces  in  one  view  the  grace  of  God  and 
the  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer,  breathes  forth  the 
petitions  of  his  heart  in  the  language  of  the  prophet, 
"  Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  I  shall  be  saved." 

IV.  In  the  fourth  and  last  place,  the  language  of  the 
text  expresses  the  confidence  which  the  true  penitent 
feels,  that  if  the  salvation  which  he  asks  be  granted,  it 
will  be  altogether  such  as  his  circumstances  require, 
and  such  as  will  more  than  gratify  his  utmost  wishes. 

The  phraseology  is  peculiar,  and  its  peculiarity  gives 
it  an  emphasis  far  beyond  what  its  literal  meaning  pos- 
sesses. It  is  as  if  the  penitent  said  to  God  whom  he  is 
addressing,  "  Were  any  other  being  to  undertake  my 
salvation,  I  should  not  be  saved.  There  would  be 
some  imperfection  in  the  achievement.  It  would  have 
the  appearance,  without  the  reality,  of  being  efficient. 
It  would  be  an  attempt,  but  not  attended  with  success. 
It  would  be  something  that  offered  and  promised,  and 
tried,  and  seemed,  to  deliver  me;  and  after  all,  left  me 
to  perish.  But  if  tbou  thyself  save  me,  I  shall  be  saved 
indeed.  There  will  be  no  defect  in  any  one  particular 
by  which  my  fate  can  be  affected.  There  will  be  no 
feebleness  iu  the  purpose;  no  inadequacy  in  the  power; 


SER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  337 

no  deficiency  in  the  means ;  no  failure  in  the  result. 
The  perfection  of  thy  nature  must  reign  in  all  thy 
works  ;  and  that  provides  a  security  that  nothing  can 
occur  to  frustrate  or  to  impair  the  work  of  my  salva- 
tion." 

This  may  not  be  precisely  the  language,  but  it  is  the 
sentiment  of  every  believing  penitent.  It  is  dictated  by 
the  first  distinct  view  that  he  obtains  of  God  as  a 
Saviour  ;  and  the  longer  that  he  meditates  on  the  attri- 
butes of  God,  and  on  the  declarations  of  his  word,  and 
on  the  method  of  redemption,  the  more  is  he  satisfied 
that,  if  what  he  asks  be  vouchsafed,  there  will  be 
nothing  left  for  him  to  deprecate  on  the  one  hand,  or  to 
desire  on  the  other.  And  if,  in  some  gloomy  moment, 
any  doubt  or  distrust  should  steal  into  his  mind,  it  is 
banished  by  the  next  survey  that  he  takes  of  the  power 
and  the  mercy  to  which  he  has  committed  the  fortunes 
of  his  soul,  and  he  again  returns  to  the  unsuspecting 
and  heartfelt  assurance  with  which  he  presented  that 
expressive  prayer,  ''  Save  me,  O  Lord,  and  1  shall  be 
saved." 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  fully  the  value  of  that  sal- 
vation which  cometh  from  the  Lord,  without  an  exact 
attention  to  all  the  blessings  of  which  it  consists,  and  all 
the  properties  by  which  it  is  distinguished.  The  simplest 
view,  indeed,  that  can  be  taken  of  it,  is  sufHcient  to 
show  that  it  is  worthy  of  our  most  intense  anxiety,  of 
our  most  ardent  ambition,  of  our  most  fervent  supplica- 
tions. But  it  is  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  unfolded  to 
our  contemplation,  or  as  it  comes  to  be  a  matter  of  ex- 
perience, that  we  shall  feel  the  mixed  sentiment  of  de- 
sire to  possess  it,  and  of  confidence  that,  when  pos- 
sessed, it  will  prove  a  satisfying  portion,  which  is  inti- 
mated in  the  phraseolo,2;y  of  the  text.  And  it  is  only 
in  heaven — when  we  shall  have  left  behind  us  all  dark- 
ness, and  doubt,  and  fear — when  we  shall  be  freed 
from  the  temptations  without,  and  the  corruptions 
within,  which  here  annoy  and  endanger  us — when  the 
sentence  of  acquittal  shall  have  been  openly  and  audi- 
29 


338  THE  penitent's  prayer.  ser,  16. 

bly  pronounced  upon  us  from  the  throne  of  final  retri- 
bution— when  we  shall  behold  the  face  of  a  reconciled 
God  beaming  upon  us,  and  no  consciousness  of  guilt  shall 
arise  in  our  minds  to  obscure  its  brightness — when  we 
shall  be  in  the  ^^resence  of  that  Saviour  who  shall  then 
liave  actually  brought  us  out  of  all  our  perils  and  tribu- 
lations, that  we  may  dwell  in  his  unsuffering  kingdom, 
and  sit  down  with  him  on  his  exalted  throne — when  sin 
and  sorrow  shall  be  recollected  as  the  things  of  old,  and 
the  recollection  of  them  shall  be  either  absorbed  in  the 
possession  of  a  purity  that  is  unspotted,  and  of  a  joy 
that  is  unspeakable,  or  made  by  contrast  to  enhance 
our  bliss,  and  animate  our  hymn  of  praise ;  it  is  only  in 
heaven  that  we  can  understand  the  full  meaning  of  this 
language  which  the  penitent  uses,  respecting  the  salva- 
tion which  he  supplicates  from  the  Lord,  because  it  is 
there  only  that  we  can  have  the  conscious,  and  de- 
lightful, and  unchangeable  feeling  of  being  perfectly 
safe,  perfectly  holy,  and  perfectly  happy. 

But  to  us  that  land  of  vision  is  only  in  prospect,  the 
salvation  which  dwells  in  it  is  only  the  object  of  an- 
ticipation. We  are  yet  in  the  wilderness,  where  there 
are  enemies  to  assail  us,  and  allurements  to  lead  us 
astray,  and  difficulties  to  perplex  and  bewilder  our 
thoughts,  and  sins  to  burden  our  conscience,  and  dis- 
turb our  tranquillity,  and  many  evils  to  remind  us  that 
we  are  still  in  a  state  of  trial,  and  must  still  expect  to 
have  much  to  do,  and  much  to  suffer.  Even  here, 
however,  amidst  all  that  bedims  our  views,  impairs  our 
comfort,  and  endangers  our  well-being,  we  are  permit- 
ted to  see  the  salvation  pre})ared  for  us,  and  conferred 
upon  us,  in  such  a  light  as  fully  to  satisfy  our  minds  of 
its  infinite  excellence,  and  its  unbounded  sufficiency. 
And  the  true  penitent  who,  when  he  is  first  roused  to 
a  conviction  of  his  sin  and  misery,  and  thinks  of  little 
else  tlian  the  ruin  which  is  about  to  overwhelm  him, 
appropriately  exclaims,  "  Lord  save  me,  else  I  perish," 
may,  widi  still  more  propriety,  after  the  first  agitations 
of  his  spirits  are  soothed,  and  he  has  considered  more 


RER.   16.  THE    penitent's    PRAYER,  339 

maturely  all  the  extent  of  deliverance  that  he  needs,  all 
the  felicity  of  which  his  nature  is  capable,  and  all  the 
provision  which  God,  in  the  riches  of  his  grace  and  wis- 
dom, has  made  for  securing  both  the  one  and  the 
other,  send  up  the  fervent  prayer,  and  with  it  the  prof- 
fer of  his  undoubting  confidence,  "  Save  me,  O  Lord, 
and  I  shall  be  saved."' 

He  w4io  has  turned  to  the  Lord  by  penitence  and 
prayer,  who  goes  to  him  by  the  pathway  that  he  has 
marked  out  and  consecrated,  and  beseeches  him  for  all 
that  is  agreeable  to  divinity  to  give,  and  necessary  for 
humanity  to  receive  for  its  recovery  and  happiness, 
may  expect  a  salvation  to  whose  value  no  limits  can  be 
affixed,  either  by  the  reason  or  the  imagination  of  man. 
It  is  incomparably  more  important  and  precious  than 
any  salvation  that  can  be  wrought  out  for  his  bodily 
frame,  or  for  his  outward  estate  :  it  embraces  the  inter- 
ests of  his  never-dying  soul,  and  affects  his  destinies  in 
the  world  of  righteous  retribution — rescuing  the  one 
from  the  thraldom  of  guilt  and  moral  pollution,  and 
sliedding  upon  the  other  the  light  and  the  glories  of  an 
endless  life.  It  has  enstamped  upon  it  the  features  of 
ti'uth  and  certainty ;  it  is  not  a  mere  picture  of  the 
fancy,  which,  when  grasped  at  by  the  sinner,  mocks  his 
aim  and  vanishes  away,  but  a  real  substance  which  he 
can  lay  hold  of,  and  appropriate,  and  feel  to  be  the 
very  thing  which  he  desij-ed  ;  and  it  is  not  what  may 
be  given  or  W'ithheld  according  to  the  suggestions  of 
humor  and  caprice,  but  the  subject  of  God's  promise, 
and  the  purchase  of  Christ's  blood,  and  therefore  as 
surely  to  be  bestowed  as  there  are  honor  and  veracity  in 
the  divine  character.  It  is  complete  ; — affording  the 
sinner  not  a  partial,  but  a  total,  relief — not  conveying 
to  him  some  blessings,  but  every  blessing  with  w^hich 
his  nature  and  condition  are  susceptible — not  marring 
his  happiness  by  leaving  some  spiritual  malady  unrem- 
edied, or  some  spiritual  want  unsupplied,  but  providing 
liberally,  and  skilfully,  and  minutely,  for  the  perfect 
cure  of  all  the  diseases  with  which  he  is  afflicted,  and 


340  THE  penitent's  prayer.  ser.  16. 

for  the  perfect  relief  of  all  the  necessities  with  which  he 
is  burdened,  so  that  he  is  redeemed  from  the  endur- 
ance of  every  evil,  and  blessed  with  the  enjoyment  of 
every  good,  either  in  present  experience,  or  in  future 
and  secure  reversion.  And,  moreover,  it  is  permanent ; 
not  to  be  possessed  for  a  limited  period,  and  then  per- 
haps wrested  from  him,  as  that  to  which  his  tide  is 
doubtful,  or  which  violence  may  take  away,  but  to  be 
held  by  a  tenure  which  the  creature  cannot,  and  which 
the  Creator  will  not  dissolve.  It  is  God,  holy  and 
true,  who  has  given  it  to  him,  and  called  him  to  be  a 
partaker  of  it ;  and  "  the  gifts  and  callings  of  God  are 
without  repentance."  It  implies  deliverance  from  the 
condemning  sentence  of  the  law ;  and  those  w^ho  are 
thus  justified,  we  are  assured,  "  can  never  come  into 
condemnation."  It  implies  exemption  from  the  power 
of  sin  ;  and  sin,  we  are  told,  shall  "  no  more  have  do- 
minion" over  such  as  divine  grace  has  rescued  from  its 
captivity.  It  implies  restoration  to  the  favor  of  God  ; 
and  to  all  who  are  admitted  to  this  privilege,  its  Author 
certifies  that,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  sure  and 
well-ordered  covenant,  "  his  mercy  and  his  kindness 
to  them  will  be  everlasting."  It  implies  redemption  from 
death  and  the  grave  ;  and  it  is  proclaimed  to  every  one 
who  is  to  be  thus  redeemed,  that  "  the  grave  shall  be 
destroyed,  and  that  death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  vic- 
tory." In  fine,  it  implies  admission  into  the  heavenly 
world  ;  and  it  is  recorded  in  that  word  which  is  inspired 
to  support  our  faith,  and  to  animate  our  hopes,  that  they 
who  enter  that  happy  region  shall  '^  go  out  of  it  no  more 
forever,"  that  the  light  which  there  shines  upon  them 
shall  never  be  extinguished,  that  the  life  which  there 
animates  them  shall  never  come  to  an  end,  that  the 
crown  of  glory  which  there  encircles  their  heads,  is  "  a 
crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away." 

Such  are  the  characteristic  properties  of  that  salva- 
tion which  the  true  penitent  has  in  his  eye,  when  he 
puts  forth  the  petition  in  the  text.  Its  intrinsic  worth, 
and  the  attributes  of  Him  from  whom  he  expects  to 


SER.  16  THE    penitent's    PRAYER.  341 

receive  it,  give  earnestness  and  energy  to  the  prayer 
which  he  prefers  for  it.  And  this  is  his  consolation 
amidst  the  sins  and  the  sorrows  which  prompt  his  apph- 
cation,  and  this  is  his  encouragement  to  make  the  request 
known  to  God,  and  to  urge  it  before  his  throne,  that 
"  asking  he  shall  receive,  seeking  he  shall  find,  knock- 
ing it  shall  be  opened  to  him."  The  same  power 
which  quickens  him  into  penitence,  and  suggests  the 
believing  supplication  in  which  that  penitence  ascends 
to  heaven,  secures  for  it  a  gracious  reception,  and 
brings  down  an  answer  in  peace.  And  he  almost  speaks 
the  language  of  piety  and  experience  combined,  w4ien 
he  says,  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  "  Save  me,  O 
Lord,  and  I  shall  be  saved." 

Now,  my  friends,  let  me  ask  you  if  you  have  ever 
preferred  this  petition.  If  you  have,  then  yours  is  the 
character  in  which  the  Lord  delights,  yours  the  prayers 
W'hich  he  has  promised  to  answer,  and  for  you  all  the 
privileges  of  his  table  are  provided.  But  if  not,  it  must 
be  concluded  that  repentance  is  a  stranger  to  your  minds 
— ^that  you  have  not  seen  the  evil  of  your  ways — that 
you  are  not  afraid  or  distressed  on  account  of  your 
transgressions — or  that  you  are  indifferent  alike  to  the 
consequences  of  guilt,  and  to  the  blessings  of  salv^ation. 
And  if  you  are  thus  impenitent,  you  are  unfit  for  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  where  are  exhibited  the  memorials 
of  those  sufferings  which  Christ  endured  to  redeem  you 
from  your  iniquities.  It  is  not  our  prerogative  to  see 
into  the  heart,  and  we  cannot  prevent  you  from  pro- 
faning the  ordinance,  and  injuring  your  own  souls. 
But  we  can  warn  you  of  the  sinfulness  and  the  danger 
of  your  conduct ;  and  this  warning  we  now  give  you, 
beseeching  you  to  remember  that  God's  all-seeing  eye 
is  upon  you — that  if  there  be  any  trudi  in  the  Bible, 
and  any  v/orth  in  the  communion  service,  you  are  pro- 
voking him  to  anger  which  may  not  soon  be  turned 
away — that  though  admitted  to  a  participation  of  the 
memorials  of  that  sacrifice  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world,  your  sins  remain  upon  your  head, — and 
*29 


342  EXHORTATION    AFTER    THE    COMMUNION. 

that  persevering  in  impenitence  and  unbelief,  there  will 
be  no  admission  for  you  when  you  die,  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Repent,  therefore,  and  believe  the  gospel. 
Think  upon  your  ways  which  have  not  been  good  ;  and 
turn  unto  the  Lord,  crying  to  him  in  the  language  and 
in  the  spirit  of  the  penitent,  "  Save  me,  O  God,  and  I 
shall  be  saved." 


EXHORTATION    AFTER    THE    COMMUNION. 

My  friends,  the  solemn  service  of  communion  is  now 
concluded.  And  it  surely  becomes  you  to  reflect  on 
the  conduct  you  have  maintained,  and  on  the  experi- 
ence you  have  had,  as  partakers  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
You  may,  perhaps,  imagine,  that,  the  service  being  over, 
your  duty  is  done,  and  any  farther  anxiety  or  trouble  is 
unnecessary.  But  in  this  you  are  mistaken — and  the 
mistake  which  you  commit  is  one  into  which  those  who 
feel  righdy,  and  think  seriously,  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion, will  not  be  apt  to  fall,  or  at  least  are  not  likely 
to  continue.  It  is  possible,  on  the  one  hand,  that  your 
mode  of  communicating  was  worthy — that  you  did  it  in 
faith  and  love,  with  grateful  affections,  and  widi  holy 
dispositions — and  that  you  thus  honored  the  Saviour 
whom  you  professed  to  remember.  I  hope  and  trust 
that  this  was  the  case  with  many  of  you.  And  is  it  not 
proper  that  you  should  be  sensible  of  it,  so  that  you  may 
not  only  enjoy  the  "  testimony  of  a  good  conscience," 
but  perceive  the  obligations  under  which  you  lie  to  that 
God  who  so  prepared  and  guided  you,  and  render  to 
him  that  tribute  of  thanksgiving  which  you  owe  him  for 
the  influences  of  his  grace  ?  It  is  possible,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  you  have  not  partaken  worthily  of  the  memo- 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    343 

rials  of  Christ's  death — that  you  came  to  the  ordinance 
without  the  requisite  meetness — that  you  were  actuated 
by  improper  motives — and  that  you  profaned  the  service, 
by  a  worldly  and  unsanctified  spirit.  Then,  surely, 
it  is  of  the  highest  moment  that  you  should  know  this,  in 
order  that  you  may  see  the  guilt  you  have  contracted,  and 
the  danger  to  which  you  are  exposed — that  you  may  re- 
pent of  you  sin,  and  apply  for  its  forgiveness — and  that, 
in  future,  you  may  be  more  diligent  in  using  the  means  of 
preparation,  and  more  devout  and  spiritual  in  your  at- 
tendance at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Nay,  but  even 
though,  by  the  grace  of  God,  you  have  "  kept  the  feast 
with  the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth,"  and 
though  you  have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  you  were 
enabled  to  present  your  offering  with  "  a  pure  heart 
and  with  faith  unfeigned,"  yet  is  there  not  reason  to 
believe  that  sins  and  imperfections  mingled  with  your 
service  ?  And  should  not  you  study  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  defects  which  have  thus  adhered  to 
you  amidst  your  best  endeavors  and  your  warmest 
piety,  that  you  may  see  the  necessity  of  being  clothed 
at  all  times  with  the  grace  of  humility — of  still  cleaving 
close  to  that  Redeemer,  without  whom  your  purest  ob- 
servances cannot  be  accepted — and  of  asking,  with 
more  earnestness  than  ever,  the  cleansing  influences  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  ? 

But  we  alluded  not  only  to  the  conduct  you  may 
have  maintained — we  also  referred  to  the  experience 
you  may  have  had.  You  may  have  been  comforted 
and  benefitted  by  engaging  in  the  ordinance  of  the 
Supper.  Your  doubts  may  have  been  removed — ^your 
fears  may  have  been  dispelled — your  mourning  may 
have  been  turned  Into  joy — your  faith  may  have  been 
confirmed — your  hope  may  have  been  enlivened — and 
you  may  have  abundant  reason  to  say,  "  It  has  indeed 
been  a  good  thing  for  us  to  draw  near  to  God.  He 
has  not  only  brought  us  to  his  banqueting  house,  but 
his  banner  over  us  has  been  love.  We  have  tasted 
that  he  is  gracious."     Is  this  what  you  have  in  any 


344    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

measure  felt  ?  And  would  you,  or  can  you,  think  of  it 
no  longer  than  during  the  short  season  of  communion  ? 
O  no ;  you  must  see  it  to  be  your  duty,  and  it  cannot 
fail  to  be  your  inclination  and  your  pleasure,  to  recal 
to  your  fondest  recollection  those  tokens  of  the  divine 
mercy  in  which  your  hearts  have  been  permitted  to  re- 
joice, that  thus  the  flame  of  gratitude  may  be  kindled 
in  your  souls — that  you  may  be  encouraged  in  time  to 
come  to  wait  upon  the  Lord  in  his  sanctuary  and  at  his 
table — that  you  may  bear  a  willing  testimony  to  the 
goodness  which  he  manifests  to  his  people — and  that 
you  may  furnish  yourselves  with  the  most  persuasive  of 
all  arguments,  and  the  most  endearing  of  all  motives, 
for  loving  him  with  increased  affection,  and  serving  him 
with  redoubled  zeal. 

But  it  may  be  that  your  experience  has  been  the  very 
reverse  of  what  we  have  now  supposed — that  you  have 
been  conscious  of  enjoying  no  satisfaction,  and  of  de- 
riving no  advantage,  from  the  exercises  of  communion 
— tliat  the  darkness  which  overshadowed  your  views 
has  not  been  dissipated — that  your  tears  of  sorrow  have 
not  been  wiped  away — that  no  word  of  peace  has  been 
spoken  to  your  troubled  mind — that  the  hopes  of  com- 
fort and  delight  which  you  had  cherished  have  been 
sadly  disappointed,  and  that  you  have  reason  to  lament 
an  absent  Saviour  and  an  absent  God.  Well,  my 
friends,  and  can  it  be  right  that  you  should  be  insensi- 
ble to  all  this,  and  that  you  should  forget  it  all  ?  Or 
rather,  should  not  it  be  the  subject  of  your  deep  and 
solemn  meditation  ?  And  while  you  mourn  over  the 
melancholy  fact,  should  not  you  be  anxious  to  search 
into  its  cause,  to  discover  why  it  is  that  God  has  been 
contending  with  you  and  hiding  his  face  from  you,  to 
ascertain  whether  it  has  been  owing  to  your  extravagant 
expectations,  or  to  mistaken  views  of  religion,  or  to  the 
want  of  due  preparation,  or  to  some  defect  in  your 
faith,  or  in  your  humility,  or  in  your  prayers,  that  you 
have  not  found  him  whom  you  were  seeking,  and  have 
come  away  disconsolate  from  the  Lord's  table  ?    Should 


EXHORTATION   AFTER   THE    COMSIUNTON.  345 

not  you  be  anxious  to  know  these  things,  that  you  may 
not  be  tempted  to  "  charge  God  foolishly,"  that  you 
may  become  acquainted  with  those  failings  which  most 
easily  beset  you,  that  you  may  put  away  from  you  the 
evil  thing  which  has  poisoned  your  "  cup  of  blessing," 
and  that  you  may  see  more  clearly  how  you  ought  to 
walk,  so  as  to  please  God  and  to  have  your  joy  full, 
when  you  approach  him  again  in  the  commemoration 
of  your  Saviour's  death  ? 

There  is  another  circumstance  which  may  have 
marked  your  experience,  and  of  which  it  would  be  un- 
safe for  you  to  remain  ignorant.  You  may  have  had 
such  feelings  as  would  lead  you  to  conclude  that  all  is 
well,  and  to  give  God  thanks  ;  whereas,  if  strictly  in- 
vestigated, this  may  be  found  little  better  than  a  delu- 
sion. The  outward  service  itself  is  so  solemn  as  to 
impress  almost  any  mind  that  is  even  but  contemplating 
it  at  a  distance  ;  and  you  may  have  mistaken  the 
solemnity  derived  from  the  sacredness  of  the  external 
scene  for  the  workings  of  genuine  piety.  The  suffer- 
ings of  Christ  have  been  represented  to  you  by  the 
most  affecting  symbols,  and  perhaps  described  to  you 
in  the  most  pathetic  language,  and  you  may  have  con- 
sidered the  emotions  of  natural  sensibility,  and  of  natu- 
ral tendency  excited  by  these  as  satisfactory  indications 
of  love  to  the  Saviour,  and  of  an  interest  in  his  death, 
and  of  sorrow  for  the  sins  which  brought  him  to  the 
cross.  The  comforts  of  the  gospel  have  been  unfolded 
to  you,  and  its  hopes  have  been  set  before  you  in  all 
the  richness,  and  in  all  the  confidence  which  they  de- 
rive from  the  death  and  resurrection  and  promises  of 
the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  without 
reflecting  on  the  inseparable  connexion  between  char- 
acter and  privilege,  you  may  have  been  consoling  your 
hearts  with  truths  to  which  you  have  no  real  attach- 
ment, and  of  which  you  have  never  felt  the  sanc- 
tifying influence ;  you  may  have  been  appropriating  to 
yourselves  assurances  of  pardon  and  of  salvation  which 
could  only  be  intended  for  persons  of  far  different  prin- 


346    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

ciples,  and  of  far  different  conduct ;  and  you  may  have 
been  rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  that  heavenly  happi- 
ness for  which  you  are  not  prepared,  and  into  which, 
while  you  continue  what  you  are,  you  can  never  enter. 
You  may  have  been  like  those  who  listen  with  profound 
attention  and  lively  interest  to  an  eloquent  preacher, 
and  think  themselves  profited  by  his  discourse,  though 
it  has  been  to  them  nothing  more  than  "  as  a  very  lovely 
song  of  one  who  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well 
on  an  instrument."  Or  you  may  have  resembled  some 
who,  though  walking  daily  without  God  in  their  thoughts, 
and  without  holiness  in  their  lives,  yet,  because  they 
have  been  soothed  into  tranquillity,  or  elevated  into 
rapture,  by  a  fine  piece  of  sacred  music,  have  regarded 
it  as  at  once  the  proof  and  the  auxiliary  of  their  devo- 
tion. And  is  this  a  deception  which  you  would  wish 
to  practise  on  yourselves,  or  in  which  it  is  consistent 
with  your  best  interests  to  remain  ?  No,  surely  :  con- 
vinced that  you  are  liable  to  it,  you  will  be  anxious  to 
discover  and  to  avoid  it ;  to  know  how  far  it  is  holding 
its  mischievous  dominion  over  you  ;  and  to  distinguish 
between  the  operation  of  spiritual  views  and  Christian 
feelings,  and  those  affections  of  the  animal  nature, 
and  those  workings  of  a  barren  sentimentality,  and 
that  presumptuous  confidence  in  your  well-being  which 
have  no  alliance,  with  true  religion,  while  they  are 
perfectly  at  one  v/ith  the  carnal  mind,  which  is  "  en- 
mity against  God." 

I  have  to  mention  still  another  circumstance  which 
may  perhaps  have  distinguished  your  experience  on  this 
occasion.  Some  of  you  may  have  partaken  of  the  or- 
dinance without  any  consciousness  of  attention  to  its 
meaning,  and  without  any  lively  sense  of  the  truths  and 
the  blessings  which  It  represents — without  any  desire  or 
any  aversion,  any  hope  or  ony  fear,  any  comfort  or  any 
uneasiness,  any  joy  or  any  sorrow — allowing  it  to  glide 
over  your  minds  with  perfect  calmness — and  to  make 
no  impression  and  to  leave  none  that  is  worthy  of  a 
moment's  recollection.     Such  a  state  of  insensibility,  I 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    347 

need  not  tell  you,  betokens  much  that  is  sinful,  and 
much  that  is  perilous.  No  state,  indeed,  can  easily 
partake  more,  either  of  the  one  or  of  the  other.  And 
unquestionably  it  is  of  high  importance  that  you  detect 
insensibility,  if  it  has  really  existed — that  you  ascertain 
in  what  degree  you  have  been  indifferent  to  the  spirit  of 
your  Saviour's  last  injunction,  and  dead  to  the  riches 
and  the  glory  of  that  event  which  it  commemorates — to 
all  the  consolations  which  it  imparts,  and  to  all  the 
hopes  which  it  inspires. 

I  have  stated  these  things,  my  friends,  for  your  seri- 
ous consideration.  I  have  not,  indeed,  stated  all  the 
possible  features  of  your  conduct,  nor  all  the  possible 
incidents  of  your  experience,  nor  all  the  various  modi- 
fications and  degrees  of  which  these  are  susceptible. 
But  I  have  stated  enough  to  show  you  the  importance 
and  necessity  of  ascertaining  what  you  have  really  done, 
and  how  you  have  really- felt,  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  : 
and  these  things  you  must  be  desirous  to  ascertain,  un- 
less you  are  prepared  to  say  that  your  religious  deport- 
ment and  your  spiritual  condition  are  matters  of  less 
moment  than  the  every-day  occurrences  of  life — and 
tliat,  in  whatever  light  they  may  appear  in  the  eye  of 
God,  the  knowledge  of  them  need  not  be  to  you  a  sub- 
ject of  any  anxiety  or  concern. — Now  that  your  knowl- 
edge of  them  may  be  certain  and  accurate  and  com- 
plete, it  is  obviously  requisite  that  you  examine  your- 
selves— that  you  look  back  with  a  searching  eye  on  the 
part  you  have  acted — that  you  reflect  minutely  and  ma- 
turely on  the  thoughts  which  have  passed  through  your 
minds,  and  on  the  feelings  which  have  been  awakened 
and  cherished  in  your  hearts.  Conduct  your  inquiry 
with  serious  intentions,  with  godly  jealousy,  with  strict 
impartiality,  with  constant  and  humble  reference  to  your 
Bible,  and  with  prayer  to  God  for  the  enlightening  and 
heart-searching  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  And  let 
your  determination  be  fixed,  that  whatever  be  the  result 
of  this  retrospect,  you  will  act  according  to  it, — that 
while  you  humbly  and  gratefully  appropriate  all  the 


348    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

comfort  of  which  it  may  be  productive,  you  will,  at  the 
same  time,  study  to  supply  all  the  defects  which  it  may 
point  out,  and  repent  of  all  the  sins  with  which  it  may 
charge  you,  and  cultivate  the  graces  of  Christianity, 
with  all  the  renovated  zeal  and  vigor  to  which  it  may 
be  the  means  of  calling  and  urging  you.  And  thus  the 
exercise  of  self-examination,  in  which  I  am  now  ex- 
horting you  to  engage,  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
prove  instrumental  not  only  in  making  you  more  worthy 
as  communicants  on  every  coming  opportunity  that  may 
be  afforded  you  of  remembering  the  Saviour  in  the  or- 
dinance of  the  Supper,  but  also  in  improving  you  as  to 
the  whole  of  your  Christian  character,  in  conducting 
you  along  the  path  of  duty,  and  in  preparing  you  for 
the  joy  of  your  Lord. 

And  this  leads  me  to  offer  you  a  few  exhortations 
respecting  the  deportment  which  it  will  become  you  to 
observe,  and  to  exhibit  in  the  path  of  life.  That,  of 
course,  must  bear  a  direct  reference  to  what  you  have 
done  and  to  what  you  have  witnessed  at  a  communion 
table.  There  ought,  unquestionably,  to  be  a  strict  and 
evident  correspondence  between  the  two.  This  is  what 
is  to  be  expected  in  the  judgment  of  propriety,  in  the 
judgment  of  your  Christian  brethren,  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  world  itself.  And  if  you  do  not  realize 
these  expectations,  you  demonstrate  that  your  profes- 
sions at  the  Lord's  table  were  not  sincere,  and  that, 
so  far  as  you  are  concerned,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  not 
a  means  of  improvement — and  thus  you  not  only  ex- 
pose your  own  inconsistency  and  endanger  your  own 
souls,  but  do  what  in  you  lies  to  discredit  the  ordinance 
of  communion,  and  to  injure  the  authority  and  the 
influence  of  religion  among  your  fellow-men.  Far  be 
such  unhallowed  conduct  from  you,  my  friends  :  but 
study  to  walk  worthy  of  the  profession  you  have  made, 
and  of  the  privilege  you  have  enjoyed  ;  and  at  every 
step  you  take  in  life,  call  to  your  remembrance  the 
solemnity,  and  the  import,  and  the  lessons,  of  this 
day's  service. 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.    349 

You  have  declared  your  faith  in  the  blood  of  atone- 
ment. You  have  not  merely  commemorated  the  death 
of  Christ,  but  intimated,  in  the  most  impressive  man- 
ner, your  entire  dependance  upon  the  merits  of  that 
death  for  taking  away  your  sins,  and  reconciling  you  to 
God,  and  securing  you  a  tide  to  heaven.  See,  then, 
that  you  do  not  abandon  this  foundation  of  your  hope. 
Continue  to  look  to  the  great  sacrifice  which  your  High 
Priest  offered  upon  Calvary  for  the  blessings  of  salva- 
tion. And  instead  of  listening  to  the  suggestions  of 
pride,  or  to  the  dictates  of  a  false  philosophy,  or  to  the 
scorn  of  an  unthinking  and  ungodly  world,  which  would 
tell  you  to  be  ashamed  of  your  Redeemer's  cross,  and 
to  count  it  foohshness,  let  it  be  the  object  of  your  cor- 
dial and  your  stedfast  attachment :  be  bold  to  avow 
your  adherence  to  it  as  your  glory  and  your  joy;  and 
never  cease  to  confess  Him  who  suffered  on  it  as  your 
only  Saviour  and  your  only  Lord. 

At  the  Lord's  table  you  have  seen  the  evil  of  sin — 
you  have  seen  its  evil  to  be  incalculable  and  infinite  : 
for  you  have  contemplated  the  sufferings  of  Christ  as 
endured  to  take  away  sin  ;  and  had  not  its  intrinsic  tur- 
pitude and  its  miserable  consequences  been  inconceiva- 
bly great — had  it  not  been  thus  boundlessly  hateful  and 
destructive  in  the  estimation  of  God  himself, — we  can 
not  suppose  that  he  would  hcive  required  the  incarna- 
tion and  the  death  of  his  own  beloved  Son  for  its  expi- 
ation. Now,  having  had  this  striking  view  of  the  odious 
nature  and  ruinous  effects  of  sin,  let  it  be  the  object  of 
your  deep  and  unqualified  and  growing  detestation. 
Fly  from  its  pollutions  as  from  a  deadly  pestilence^ 
Give  not  up  to  its  dominion  any  one  of  your  affections. 
Deny  yourselves  resolutely  to  all  the  aHurements  by 
which  it  would  seduce  you  from  your  Saviour  and  your 
God.  Pray  without  ceasing  for  that  Spirit  who  is 
promised  to  renew  your  hearts,  and  to  sanctify  you 
wholly.  And  amidst  all  the  temptations  that  will  beset 
you  as  you  travel  along  the  path  of  life,  still  look  to  sin 
as  it  appears  in  the  light  of  the  cross,  that  you  may  see 
30 


350    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION, 

what  a  bitter  and  pernicious  thing  it  is, — that  you  may 
uever  be  reconciled  to  the  commission  of  it — that  you 
may  behold  it  stripped  of  all  its  blandishments  and  dis- 
guises— that  you  may  shudder  at  the  very  thought  of 
crucifying  the  Lord  of  glory  afresh,  and  putting  him  to 
an  open  shame. 

At  the  Lord's  table  you  have  been  favored  with  an 
astonishing  display  of  the  love  of  God.  God  was  there 
acknowledged  as  taking  compassion  on  you  in  your 
sinful  and  ruined  state,  and  as  giving  up  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  for  your  eternal  redemption.  Such  love  as 
this  "  passes  all  understanding"  and  demands  from  you 
every  return  that  you  can  possibly  make  to  him  by 
W'hom  it  has  been  manifested.  It  requires  not  merely 
that  you  shall  indulge  in  admiration — or  that  your  hearts 
shall  be  warmed  with  gratitude — or  that  you  shall  make 
professions  of  reciprocal  affection.  All  these  are  due  ; 
but  they  are  not  sufficient.  If  the  love  of  God  which 
you  have  been  contemplating  at  the  Lord's  table  have 
its  full  and  proper  effect,  it  will  constrain  you  to  love 
him  who  has  "  first  loved  you,"  and  to  love  him  with 
all  your  heart  and  with  all  your  soul.  Now  "  this  is  the 
love  of  God,  that  ye  keep  his  commandments."  Hav- 
ing that  sentiment  shed  abroad  in  your  hearts  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  cherished  by  the  re- 
membrances and  the  meditations  of  a  communion  ser- 
vice, see  that  it  determine  you  to  do  those  things  which 
are  pleasing  to  your  God  and  Redeemer,  to  study  an 
universal  conformity  to  his  will,  to  be  "  fruitful  in  every 
good  word  and  work." 

At  the  Lord's  table  you  have  been  contemplating 
Christ  as  a  compassionate  as  well  as  a  powerful  Saviour, 
who  is  touched  with  a  feeling  of  your  infirmities,  and  is 
both  able  and  willing  to  supply  all  your  spiritual  wants. 
Carry  this  view  of  him  witli  you  into  the  world.  There 
you  are  to  meet  with  trials,  and  difficulties,  and  dis- 
tresses of  various  kinds  ;  but  amidst  them  all  let  it  be 
your  constant  care  and  your  constant  practice  to  have 
recourse  to  Hivqj  to  trust  in  his  grace,  to  lean  upon  his 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.     351 

Strength,  to  apply  for  his  direction,  and  to  drink  of  those 
waters  of  consolation  which  he  has  provided  for  the  re- 
freshment and  the  life  of  his  people. 

At  the  table  of  the  Lord  you  have  seen  Christ  as 
the  conqueror  of  death,  and  have  had  your  views  di- 
rected to  his  second  coming.     O  yes,  my   friends,  by 
that  very  death,  with  all  its  accompaniments  of  igno- 
miny and  of  pain,  which  you  have  been  showing  forth, 
Christ  overcame  death — he  plucked  out  its  sting — he 
disarmed  it  of  its  terrors — he  "  abolished"  it — and  se- 
cured a  glorious  resurrection   and   everlasting  life  to  all 
who  believe  in  his  name.     Bear  about  with  you,  there- 
fore, "  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  so  that  not  only 
his  "  life  may  be   manifest  in  your  mortal  bodies,"  but 
that  you  may  be  fearless  in  encountering  the  last  enemy, 
and  be  "  made  more  than  conquerors,  through  him  that 
hath  loved  you."      Interesting,  indeed,   and  awful  is 
tliat  period  when  your  bodies  shall  return  to  the  dust 
from  which  they  were  taken,  and  your  spirits  unto  God 
who  gave  them.     And  how  many  are  there  who,  through 
fear  of  that  solemn  event,  are  "  all  their  lifetime  subject 
to  bondage  !"     But,  believing  communicants,  "  let  not 
your  hearts  be  troubled,  neither  let  them  be   afraid." 
He  whose  crucifixion  you  have  been  keeping  in  remem- 
brance, is  now  reigning  in  heaven.     He  is  saying  to 
you,  "  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead  ;  and,  behold ! 
I  am  alive  forevermore,  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and 
of  death."     He   requires   you   to   commemorate   his 
death,  in  the   anticipation  of  his   coming  the  second 
time,  to  deliver  you  from  the  dishonors  of  the  grave, 
and  to  raise  you  to  the  enjoyment  of  eternal  life.     And, 
you  cannot   doubt  that  he   is  faithful  and  mighty  to  ac- 
complish all  the  promises  in  which  he  bids  you  now  re- 
joice.    Look  forward,  then,  to  the  hour  of  dissolution 
with  the  hope  which   has  been  kindled   at  the  table  of 
communion,  and  which  will  enlighten  the  gloom  which 
nature  and  guilt  have  spread  over  the  gravej  and  let  this 
blessed   ordinance  encourage  you  to  pray  with   more 
fervor,  and  to  labor  with  more  diligence,  that  you  may 


352    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

be  counted  worthy  as  "  children  of  the  resurrection," 
and  as  heirs  of  immortality. 

I  am  unwilling  to  detain  you  longer,  my  friends,  but 
I  cannot  conclude  without  addressing  a  few  words,  in  par- 
ticular, to  those  who  have  for  the  first  time  remembered 
Christ  at  a  communion  table.  The  step  which  you  have 
taken,  my  young  friends,is  most  important.  Your  situation 
is  truly  interesting.  And  while  we  offer  up  our  earnest 
prayers  to  God  in  your  behalf,  we  would  speak  to  you 
the  word  of  affectionate  counsel  and  exhortation.  You 
have  been  admitted  to  the  holy  ordinance  of  the  supper, 
and  I  trust  you  have  engaged  in  it  from  worthy  motives, 
and  with  suitable  dispositions.  But,  O  remember  that 
such  a  service,  however  becoming  in  itself,  and  with 
whatever  decency  you  have  observed  it,  is  of  no  avail, 
if  your  heart  and  character  be  not  at  the  same  time 
adorned  with  the  substantial  graces  of  Christianity. 
You  may  have  the  credit  of  a  good  profession — every 
Sabbath  may  find  you  in  the  house  of  God,  and  every 
communion  after  this  at  the  table  of  the  Lord — and  of 
your  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  we  may  have  no 
doubt,  and  of  your  reputation  we  may  be  able  to  say 
nothing  that  is  unfavorable,  yet  if,  with  all  this,  you  be 
not  conscious  of  a  renewed  mind,  and  if  you  be  not 
cherishing  the  spirit  of  real  personal  religion,  every 
thing  that  you  have  of  outward  sanctity  is  but  as 
"  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal."  Let  me  be- 
seech you,  then,  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  mere 
name  and  appearance  of  communicants.  This  will 
never  do  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  it  will  never  carry 
you  to  heaven.  Be  it  your  great  concern  to  be  Chris- 
tians in  deed  and  in  truth — to  experience  the  power  of 
the  gospel^ — to  possess  in  reality  that  faith,  and  love, 
and  penitence,  and  purity  which  you  were  presumed  to 
have  when  you  were  permitted  to  "  take  the  cup  of  sal- 
vation into  your  hand,  and  to  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord."  Beware  of  acting  inconsistently  with  the  char- 
acter you  have  assumed,  and  the  vows  that  you  have 
made.     Be  steady  in  your  attachment  to  the  great  and 


EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION.     353 

merciful  Redeemer.  Persevere  in  the  path  of  right- 
eousness in  which  he  has  commanded,  and  you  your- 
selves have  engaged  to  walk.  And  show,  by  the  ex- 
cellence of  your  whole  deportment,  that  you  "  have 
been  with  Jesus,"  and  that  you  have  learned  of  Him 
who  was  "holy,  and  harmless,  and  undefiled,  and  sep- 
arate from  sinners."  In  the  world  to  which  you  are 
now  to  return,  you  will  meet  with  many  trials  and 
temptations.  O  it  is  a  vain  and  wicked,  a  deceitful  and 
ensnaring  world  ;  and  if  you  surrender  yourselves  to  its 
dominion,  or  conform  to  its  maxims  and  its  manners,  it 
will  speedily  efface  every  serious  impression  from  your 
minds,  and  carry  you  back  to  the  pollutions  from  which 
you  had  escaped,  and  make  your  last  state  worse  than 
the  first.  Fly,  then,  from  those  scenes  of  vain  amuse- 
ment— tasle  not  of  those  unhallow^ed  pleasures — be  not 
entangled  by  those  sordid  pursuits  by  which  it  would 
steal  away  your  affections  from  him  who  loved  you  to 
the  death,  and  make  you  forfeit  the  glories  of  an  im- 
mortal crown.  Say  not  that  this  is  hard  doctrine  :  it  is 
a  doctrine  whose  truth  you  this  day  acknowledged,  in 
the  exercise  of  faith  and  gratitude,  when  you  drank  the 
memorial  of  that  blood,  which  w^as  shed  upon  the  cross 
to  redeem  you  from  the  power,  and  the  conversation, 
and  the  bondage  of  this  present  evil  world.  Listen  not 
to  those  who  will  tell  you  that  this  is  melancholy  advice 
— that  it  is  unsuitable  to  your  period  of  life — that  you 
need  not  be  afraid  to  mingle,  as  they  do,  in  all  the  gai- 
eties of  fashion,  and,  like  them,  to  forget  your  cares  and 
your  sorrows  for  a  season  in  the  gratifications  of  sense 
and  of  time.  They  who  address  to  you  such  delusive 
language  feel  not  for  your  spiritual  well-being — they 
have  learned  nothing  in  the  school  of  Christ — they  have 
never  been  at  the  foot  of  the  cross — they  are  themselves 
walking  "  in  the  broad  way  that  leadeth  to  destruction," 
and  would  have  you  to  be  the  companions  of  their  guilt 
and  of  their  ruin.  But  from  counsel  and  examples  like 
theirs,  you  must  turn  away  ;  and  to  all  their  solicitations 
you  may  reply,  by  asking  if  they  will  die  for  you,  and 
*30 


354    EXHORTATION  AFTER  THE  COMMUNION. 

if  they  will  answer  for  you  on  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day.  No,  my  young  friends,  listen  not  to  them — but 
listen  to  your  Saviour,  who  says,  "  love  not  the  world," 
and  who  moreover  calls  you  "  to  glory  and  to  virtue." 
Consider  what  he  suffered  to  raise  your  views  and  your 
hopes  from  earth  to  heaven.  And  remember  all  your 
obligations  to  "  set  your  affections  on  those  things  which 
are  above,  where  he  now  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 
God."  Young  though  you  be,  yet  recollect  the  short- 
ness and  uncertainty  of  life,  and  pass  through  the  wil- 
derness as  strangers  and  pilgrims  and  travellers  to  a 
better  country.  Anticipate  the  hour  of  your  departure. 
Keep  eternity  constantly  in  your .  view.  And  let  the 
prospect  of  the  future,  as  well  as  the  remembrance  of 
the  past,  make  you  stedfast  in  the  faith,  and  diligent  in 
the  work  of  the  Lord.  And,  conscious  of  your  own 
weakness,  lean  upon  that  Almighty  arm  of  your  Re- 
deemer. Pray  for  the  grace  that  you  need.  And  let 
"  the  hope  which  entereth  into  that  within  the  vail, 
whither  the  forerunner  is  for  you  entered,"  cheer  you 
amidst  all  the  distresses,  and  animate  you  amidst  all  the 
labors  of  your  Christian  pilgrimage. 

"  Now,  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from  fall- 
ing, and  to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence 
of  his  glory  with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  wise  God, 
our  Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power, 
both  now  and  ever.     Amen." 


SERMON    XVII. 


SPIRITUAL    DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDY. 


JEREMIAH  viii.  22. 

"/5  there  no  halm  in  Gilead^  Is  there  no  physician 
there  ?  Why  then  is  not  the  health  of  the  daughter 
of  my  people  recovered  ? 

These  words  originally  referred  to  the  desolation  and 
misery  brought  by  the  Chaldean  invasion  upon  the 
Jews,  on  account  of  their  wickedness  and  impenitence. 
But  they  may,  with  great  propriety,  be  applied  to  all 
whose  conduct  and  circumstances  resemble  those  of  the 
degenerate  house  of  Israel.  And  it  is  in  this  applica- 
tion that  w^e  intend  to  consider  them.  The  prophet, 
looking  to  the  sinfulness  of  his  countrymen — to  their 
obstinate  disobedience — and  to  the  judgments  which 
impended  over  them,  exclaimed,  "  Is  there  no  balm  in 
Gilead  ?  Ts  there  no  physician  there  ?  Why  then  is 
not  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  recovered  ?" 
And  well  may  we  put  the  same  question,  when,  casting 
our  eyes  around  us,  we  see  so  many  in  a  state  of  guilt ; 
perversely  and  pertinaciously  continuing  in  it,  in  spite 
of  all  that  has  been  done  for  their  deliverance,  and  con- 


856  SPIRITUAL   DISEASE  SER.  17. 

seqiiently  exposed  to  the  indignation  of  God,  and  to 
punishment  throughout  eternity. 

I.  The  first  thing  to  which  our  attention  is  here 
called,  is  the  melancholy  fact  that  sin  prevails. 

Sin  is  here,  as  in  other  places  of  Scripture,  repre- 
sented under  the  figurative  character  of  a  disease.  And 
tlie  representation  is  appropriate  and  striking ;  for  sin 
affects  the  soul  much  in  the  same  way  as  disease  affects 
the  body — producing  similar  disquietudes,  and  leading 
to  similar  consequences.  It  is  a  derangement  of  the 
spiritual  frame,  by  which  its  functions  are  impeded,  its 
strength  enfeebled,  its  comfort  impaired,  its  proper  ends 
counteracted,  and  its  very  existence,  as  a  creature 
destined  to  immortal  felicity,  endangered  or  destroyed. 
And  every  view  which  can  be  taken  of  its  nature,  and 
extent,  and  tendency,  demonstrates  it  to  be  a  just  cause 
of  serious  interest  and  alarm  to  all  who  are  infected 
with  it. 

It  is  a  hereditary  disease — not  induced  by  outward  or 
accidental  circumstances,  but  entailed  upon  us  as  an 
attribute  of  our  fallen  nature,  and  cleaving  to  us  with  as 
much  tenacity  as  if  it  were  a  part  of  our  original  being  : 
— we  are  "  conceived,  and  shapen,  and  born  in  sin." 

It  is  a  pervading  disease — not  limited  to  any  one 
portion  of  our  constitution,  but  dwelling  in  every  de- 
partment of  it — influencing  its  intellectual  powers,  its 
moral  dispositions,  its  sensitive  organs :  "  the  whole 
head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint." 

It  is  a  vital  and  inveterate  disease — not  touching 
merely  the  extreme  or  superficial  parts  of  our  system, 
and  resisted  in  its  progress  by  any  inherent  energies — 
but  corrupting  and  preying  upon  our  inmost  soul,  and 
so  congenial  to  ail  that  is  within,  and  to  all  that  is  around 
us,  as  to  grow  with  our  growth,  and  strengthen  with  our 
strength. 

It  is  a  deceitful  disease — not  always  accompanied 
wnth  those  violent  and  decided  symptoms  which  forbid 
us  to  mistake  the  nature  or  disregard  the  perils  of  our 
condition — but  often  assuming  that  gende  form  which 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  357 

allays  our  apprehensions,  and  flatters  us  with  hopes  of 
recovery. 

It  is  often  withal  a  painful  and  harassing  disease — 
filling  us  with  dissatisfaction  and  fear  and  trembling — 
rendering  our  days  gloomy  and  our  nights  restless — or 
piercing  us  with  agonies  to  which  we  can  find  neither 
utterance  nor  relief. 

And,  finally,  it  is  a  mortal  disease — not  inflicting 
upon  us  a  momentary  pang,  and  then  giving  place  to 
renovated  vigor — but  mocking  at  all  human  attempts  to 
throw  it  off — sooner  or  later  subduing  us  by  its  resist- 
less power — and  consigning  us  to  the  pains  and  the  ter- 
rors of  the  second  death. 

Now,  my  friends,  this  disease  of  sin  more  or  less 
prevails  in  every  one  of  us :  "  There  is  not  a  just  man 
upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not."  All  of 
us  have  it  by  nature,  and  all  of  us  have  it  by  practice. 
So  that  whatever  is  loathsome,  or  distressing,  or  fatal  in 
it,  must  be  regarded  as  attaching  to  every  one  of  the 
children  of  men  without  exception.  This  is  the  real  and 
unquestionable  fact  with  respect  to  each  one  of  you  now 
hearing  me.  Whatever  be  the  age  at  which  you  have 
arrived — whatever  be  your  rank  or  condition  in  life — 
whatever  be  the  opinion  which  you  entertain  of  your- 
selves— or  whatever  be  the  estimation  in  which  you  are 
held  by  others — one  and  all  of  you  are  afflicted  with 
the  malady  of  sin.  You  may  exhibit  such  appearances 
as  shall  render  it  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  detect  it;  but 
nevertheless,  it  exists,  and  operates,  and  in  some  shape 
or  other  manifests  itself  to  the  observer's  eye.  You 
may  fondly  imagine  that,  however  much  it  may  reign 
in  those  around  you,  it  has  acquired  no  ascendancy  in 
your  minds,  and  that  you  need  to  apprehend  no  danger 
from  it — but  this  is  nothing  better  than  a  vain  delusion, 
and  so  far  from  proving  that  you  are  without  sin,  shows 
only  that  the  disease  in  your  case  has  assumed  one  of 
its  most  alarming  forms,  and  that  it  is  taking  advantage 
of  your  insensibility  to  accomplish  your  ruin.  You  may 
impose  upon  us,  and  you  may  impose  upon  yourselves, 


358  SPIRITUAL   DISEASE  SER.  17. 

by  putting  forth,  in  more  than  ordinary  abundance,  the 
tokens  of  spiritual  health  ;  and  yet  we  must  declare, 
for  it  is  a  truth  asserted  by  him  who  knows  all  things 
and  cannot  be  deceived,  that  the  leprosy  of  sin  is  upon 
your  souls — that  they  cannot  prosper  while  it  is  there 
— and  that,  if  it  be  not  taken  away,  they  must  die 
forever. 

Such,  my  friends,  is  the  fact.     But  then,  are  you 
convinced  of  it  ?     Do  you  acknowledge  it  ?     Or  if  you 
do,  are  you  sincere  in  the   acknowledgment  which  you 
make  ?     I  fear  that  there   are  too  many  of  whom  this 
cannot  be  said  with  truth.     For  if  they  were  convinced 
of  it,  and  if  they  did   acknowledge  it  in   sincerity,  it  is 
impossible  that  they  should  speak  and  act  with  such  in- 
difference as  they  show  to  what  is  so  virulent  in  its  na- 
ture, so  terrible  in  its  aspect,  and  so  desolating  in  its 
effects.     We  should  expect  to  see  them  as  anxious  at 
least  to  get  quit  of  this  evil  as  they  always  are  to  get 
quit  of  those   evils  which   affect  their  bodily  frame  or 
their  outward  condition.     Nay,  we  should  naturally  ex- 
pect to  find  them  far  more  solicitous  and  active  in  their 
endeavors  to  be   delivered  from  such  a  calamity,  than 
they  could  ever  be  to  find  deliverance  from  any  tempo- 
ral calamity,   however  great  and  however  frightful  it 
might  be.     And  yet  they  are  not  moved  by  it  to  any 
serious   concern.      It  does  not  seem  to   disturb  their 
peace  at  all.     It  leads  to  no  anxious  inquiry  as  to  the 
means  of  its  mitigation  or  removal.     It  calls  forth  no 
strenuous  exertions  for  that  purpose.     They  regard  and 
treat  it  as  if  it  had  no  malignity  in  it,  as  if  it  gave  them 
no  present  uneasiness,  as  if  it  would  be  productive  of 
no   positive  or  lasting  injury.     On  the    contrary,  one 
might  sometimes  suppose,  that  they  mistook  it  for  their 
chief  good,  that  they  considered  it  as  conducive   alike 
to  their   honor,   their   safety,   and  their  happiness,   so 
fondly  and  so  perseveringly,  do  they  indulge  in  every 
species  of  gratification  which  can  establish  its  power,  or 
contribute  to  its  growth. 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  359 

Now,  all  this  is  so  very  unaccountable,  it  is  so  passing 
strange  that  the  disease  of  sin  should  be  universally 
prevalent, — that  it  should  be  confessedly  and  undenia- 
bly so  alarming  in  its  symptoms  and  so  destructive  in  its 
issue,  and  that  the  great  majority  of  those  who  labor 
under  it  should  nevertheless  be  as  contented  as  if  they 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  its  ravages, — that  we  are 
tempted  to  impute  their  conduct  to  some  secret,  lurking 
suspicion,  of  the  hopelessness  of  their  case.  We  might 
be  justified  in  supposing  that  in  their  view  there  is  no 
method  by  which  their  cure  can  be  effected,  that  it  is 
tlierefore  unnecessary  for  them  to  give  themselves  any 
trouble  about  the  matter,  and  that  their  wisest  plan  is  to 
give  way  to  thoughtlessness,  and  to  live  on  as  their 
passions  and  inclinations  may  prompt  them.  But  that 
is  a  hasty  conclusion,  if  they  have  come  to  it ;  and  we 
cannot  allow  them  to  rest  in  it,  without  endeavoring  to 
convince  them  that  they  are  laboring  under  a  perilous 
delusion. 

II.  "  Is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead,"  no  remedy  by 
which  the  disease  of  sin  may  be  cured  ?  "  Is  there  no 
physician  there,"  no  physician  qualified  to  apply  the 
remedy  and  able  to  make  it  effectual  ? 

This  question  is  not  put  by  the  prophet,  as  if  infor- 
mation were  needed  and  asked.  It  does  not  indicate 
any  ignorance  of  that  about  which  the  inquiry  is  made. 
It  does  not  imply  the  least  suspicion  or  doubt  respecting 
the  existence,  the  certainty,  and  the  sufficiency  of  the 
thing  referred  to.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  peculiarly  emphatic  mode  of  affirming  what 
it  appears  to  have  no  knowledge  nor  assurance  of,  and 
even  as  expressing  wonder  that  those  whom  it  concerns 
are  not  perfectly  aware  of  it  as  a  true  doctrine  or  indis- 
putable fact.  It  intimates,  that  where  the  evil  of  sin 
continues  to  prevail,  it  is  not  for  want  of  means  by 
which  it  may  be  thoroughly  or  effectually  taken  away, — 
that  those  who  remain  subject  to  it  must  account  for 
that  unhappy  circumstance  in  some  other  way  than  by 


360  SPIRITUAL    DISEASE  SER.   17. 

alleging  the  helplessness  of  their  case — that  "  there  is 
balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  there  is  a  physician  there." 

Why,  my  friends,  the  whole  purpose  of  the  gospel  is 
to  proclaim  and  to  illustrate  this  great  truth ;  "  God  has 
so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him,  may  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  Christ  is  set  forth  as  the  great  Physician 
of  souls.  He  has  been  appointed  to  sustain  this  character, 
by  Him  who  rules  supreme  in  the  world  of  grace,  as  in 
the   world  of  nature — who  has  taken   compassion  on 
mankind  as  subject  to  the  malady  of  sin — and  to  whom 
the  cure  of  that  greatest  and  sorest  evil  is  as  easy,  as 
the  cure  of  any  malady  that  can  afflict  the  bodily  frame. 
This  spiritual  Physician  has  not  only  come  in  the  name 
of  Almighty  God,  but  he  has  come  possessed  of  all  the 
qualifications  which  are  requisite  to  ensure  his  complete 
success  in  every  case  that  can  possibly  be  submitted  to 
him.     He  has  wisdom  to  devise  whatever  method  may 
be  necessary,  for  rescuing  the  victims  whom  he  has  been 
sent  to  deliver.     He  has  tenderness  and  compassion  to 
induce  him  to  do,  and  bestow,  and  suffer  all  whatever  it 
may  be,  which  their  circumstances  require.     He   has 
powder  to  conquer  every  obstacle  that  would  frustrate  his 
exertions  in  their  behalf,  and  to  render  effectual  every 
means  that  may  be  employed  for  their  recovery.     And 
he  has  all  these  attributes  in  an  infinite  degree ;  so  that 
he  is  competent  to  heal  those   in  whose  instance  the 
disease  has  assumed  its  most  inveterate  form,  and  even 
to  call  them  back  from   the  very  gates  of  the   grave. 
His  blood,  shed  on  Calvary,  as  an   atonement,  is  the 
grand  and  sovereign  remedy  by  w^hich  sinners  are  re- 
stored.    And  such  is  its  inherent  virtue — such  is  its  re- 
sisdess  eflicacy,  that  sprinkled  on  the  spirit  and  the  con- 
science of  him  who  is  fardiest  gone  in  the  lepros)  of  sin, 
it  is  adequate  to  subdue  the  strength  of  the  otherwise 
incurable  malady,  to  root  it  out  from  the  deepest  reces- 
ses of  his  nature,  to  infuse  into  him  all  the  elements  of 
moral  health,  and  to  secure  for  him  an   endless  as  well 
as  a  happy  hfe.     If  you  read  the  word  of  God  and  give 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  361 

credit  to  his  testimony  recorded  in  it,  you  will  find  that 
we  have  a  "  Physician"  thus  gifted  beyond  measure, 
and  "  a  balm"  thus  efficacious  beyond  the  possibility  of 
failure,  provided  for  us  by  the  mercy  of  God.  And  not 
only  is  this  truth  exhibited  to  us  in  the  gospel  record,  as 
one  which  we  must  believe  simply  because  it  is  there ; 
— it  is  a  truth  which  has  been  realized  in  the  expe- 
rience of  every  age,  and  which  meets  our  observation 
in  the  case  of  all  the  redeemed  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

In  the  annals  of  Christianity,  we  read  of  many  who, 
though  sin  was  preying  on  their  very  vitals  as  a  deep- 
seated  and  mortal  distemper,  and  though  they  were 
ready  to  perish,  because  they  had  no  ability  to  stay  or 
to  withstand  its  progress,  yet  escaped  from  its  destroying 
power, — felt  that  it  had  departed  from  them,  manifested 
all  the  symptoms  of  renovated  vigor,  and  rejoiced  in  the 
active  exertion  of  those  facuhies  which  had  been  para- 
lyzed, and  in  the  return  of  those  comforts  and  those 
hopes  which  seemed  to  have  fled  from  them  for  ever. 
And  they  have  testified  that  this  happy  change  was 
wrought  in  their  condition — because  there  "  is  balm  in 
Gilead,  and  because  there  is  a  physician  there." 

Look  around  you,  and  behold  in  every  Christian  that 
meets  your  eye,  a  demonstration  of  the  same  important 
fatt.  They  were  once  pervaded  by  the  plague  of  sin  : 
— it  poisoned  their  hearts — it  prostrated  their  strength — 
it  covered  them  with  moral  pollution — it  blasted  all 
their  joys,  and  it  threatened  them  with  eternal  death. 
But  now,  the  plague  is  removed — their  heart  is  made 
v^rhole — their  energy  is  restored — they  are  adorned  with 
the  beauties  of  holiness,  and  they  are  ripening  for  a 
blessed  immortality.  And  to  what  are  we  to  ascribe 
their  altered  state  ?  To  what  but  to  this,  that "  there  is 
balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  there  is  a  physician  there." 

And  to  what  is  it  owing,  that  in  the  Paradise  above, 
there  is  a  coundess  multitude  who  once  dwelt  in  the 
lazar-house  of  this  wretched  world,  inheriting  from  their 
progenitors  that  foul  disease  which  sin  introduced  into 
the  nature  of  man,  vexed  with  all  its  painful  and  loath- 
31 


362  SPIRITUAL    DISEASE  SER.   17. 

some  symptoms,  yielding  to  its  encroachments,  and  nour- 
ishing its  virulence,  as  if  it  had  been  their  honor  and 
their  bliss,  and  amidst  the  delusive  dream  that  all  was 
well  with  them,  sinking  down  to  that  perdition  in  which 
it  naturally  terminates — to  what  is  it  owing,  that  from 
such  a  state  as  this,  they  are  now  translated  into  a  re- 
gion, into  which  "nothing  that  defileth  can  enter,"  of 
which  "the  inhabitants  never  say,  they  are  sick,  because 
all  their  sins  are  forgiven  them,"  where  they  offend  no 
more,  and  suffer  no  more,  and  die  no  more,  but  exist  in- 
undecaying  youth,  in  unfading  bloom,  in  everlasting 
felicity  ?  To  what  is  this  owing  but  to  the  immutable 
truth,  that  "  there  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  there  is  a 
physician  there  ?" 

Yes,  my  friends,  there  is  a  Saviour  for  the  "chief  of 
sinners,"  and  he  is  "able  to  save  them  to  the  very  ut- 
termost." There  is  none  whose  guilt  is  so  aggravated 
that  he  cannot  cancel  it — none  whose  heart  is  so  pol- 
luted that  he  cannot  cleanse  it — none  whose  danger  is 
so  imminent  that  he  cannot  deliver  from  it — none  whose 
case  is  so  desperate  as  that  he  cannot  bring  it  to  a  favor- 
able issue.  And  he  is  as  willing,  as  he  is  able,  to  re- 
deem the  guilty  and  the  perishing.  He  has  declared 
his  readiness  to  grant  redemption  to  them  in  its  fullest 
measure.  He  has  given  proof  irresistible  of  the  sincerity 
of  his  declaration,  in  the  sacrifice  of  himself  which  he 
offered  upon  the  cross.  And  after  this  marvellous  act  of 
condescension  and  love,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  of  his 
earnest,  affectionate,  longing  desire  to  rescue  those  on 
whose  account  he  performed  it,  from  the  fate  to  which 
they  were  doomed,  from  the  destruction  and  misery  to 
which  they  are  exposed. 

But,  if  Christ  be  thus  able  and  willing  to  save  sinners, 
why  is  it  that  so  many  are  continuing  in  sin — living  un- 
der its  dominion,  and  dying  under  its  curse  ?  Since 
there  "  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  since  there  is  a  physician 
there,  why  is  not  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my  peo- 
ple recovered  ?"     And, 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  363 

III.  This  leads  me  to  state  and  explain  some  of  the 
causes  of  such  a  melancholy  phenomenon  in  the  history 
of  sinful  men. 

I.  The  first  that  I  would  mention  is,  that  many  sinners 
are  insensible  to  their  need  of  a  spiritual  physician. 

A  man  may  unconsciously  labor  under  a  bodily  dis- 
temper, which  is  making  rapid  advances,  and  hastening 
him  on  to  his  grave.  Others  may  see  it,  and  lament  it, 
and  beseech  him  to  attend  to  it,  and  to  call  in  medical 
aid  before  it  be  too  late.  But  it  is  all  in  vain,  if  he 
himself  do  not  see  the  dangers  of  his  situation — if  he 
imagine  symptoms  of  health  where  all  around  perceive 
symptoms  of  disease — or  if  any  unsoundness  which  he 
does  discover  and  acknowledge  be  deemed  by  him  too 
trifling  to  deserve  notice  or  to  excite  alarm.  Then  of 
course,  he  refuses  to  put  himself  under  the  care  of  those 
who  have  skill  to  cure  him ;  he  will  not  listen  to  their 
advice  :  his  case  becomes  hopeless,  and  ere  long  he 
dies. 

Thus  it  is  with  thousands  infected  with  the  disease  of 
sin.  It  is  a  sad  but  indisputable  fact,  that  sin  cleaves  to 
them  as  a  mortal  disease.  But  we  cannot  convince 
them  of  the  fact.  They  shut  their  eyes  against  all  the 
light  by  which  they  might  be  made  aware  of  the  perils 
and  the  horrors  of  their  condition.  They  repel  every 
argument  by  which  we  would  convince  them  that  they 
are  practising  a  delusion  upon  themselves.  They  palliate 
or  explain  away  all  the  circumstances  by  which  we 
would  prove  that  guilt  does  attach  to  them.  And  they 
perhaps  smile  at  the  anxieties  we  feel,  and  at  the  fears 
we  express  on  their  account,  as  chimerical  and  vain. 
And  amidst  so  much  security,  and  ease,  and  self-com- 
placency, what  is  it  to  them  that  there  is  "balm  in 
Gilead,  and  a  physician  there  ?"  And  what  can  it  avail  that 
we  speak  of  Christ  to  them  as  a  Saviour,  and  beseech 
them  to  have  recourse  to  his  grace  and  power  ?  They 
perceive  no  attraction  in  the  most  interesting  exhibitioQS 
of  him  that  we  can  lay  before  them  ;  no  meaning  so  far 
as  they  are  concerned,  in  all  that  we  say  of  his  ability  to 
Ileal  i  no  suitableness  in  his  peculiar  qualifications  to 


364  SPIRITUAL    DISEASE  SER.   17. 

what  they  consider  to  be  their  real  situation ;  no  neces- 
sity to  take  counsel  of  him,  to  look  to  him,  or  to  think 
about  him.  In  such  a  state  of  mind  we  cannot  expect 
them  to  put  themselves  into  the  hands  of  Christ,  or  to 
submit  to  the  treatment  by  which  he  would  save  them. 
And  hence  it  is  that  though  the  healing  "  balm"  is  within 
their  reach,  and  though  the  omnipotent  "  Physician"  is 
ready  to  administer  it,  they  are  as  far  from  safety  as  if 
every  avenue  to  either  were  closed.  Hence  it  is  that 
all  our  entreaties  are  heard  by  them  with  indifference, 
or  rejected  with  disdain.  Hence  it  is  that  they  go  on  to  sin 
yet  more  and  more,  that  every  feature  of  their  case  as- 
sumes a  more  frightful  complexion,  and  that  they  ulti- 
mately perish  in  their  iniquities.  O  that  they  were  wise  ! 
that  they  would  but  consider  !  that  they  would  open  their 
eyes  to  the  light  of  truth  !  that  they  would  cease  to  flat- 
ter themselves  with  the  thought  of  peace  and  safety, 
when  destruction  is  so  evidently  coming  upon  them, 
when  there  will  be  no  means  of  escaping  from  it !  May 
the  Lord  himself  bring  them  speedily  and  effectually  to 
a  sense  of  their  danger,  and  dispose  them  to  give  a  cor- 
dial welcome,  and  to  lend  a  delighted  ear  to  the  glad 
tidings  that  there  is  "  balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  there  is 
a  physician  there." 

2.  But,  secondly,  we  may  mention  as  another  reason 
why  sinners  are  not  saved,  or  have  not  their  spiritual 
health  restored,  that  there  are  many  who,  though 
aware  in  some  measure  of  the  disease  of  sin,  of  its  in- 
veteracy and  of  its  danger,  and  not  unconvinced  of  the 
necessity  of  applying  to  Him  who  alone  can  save  them 
from  its  power  and  consequences,  are  yet  indisposed 
from  doing  so,  by  carelessness,  or  procrastination,  or 
dislike  to  the  remedies  which  they  know  will  be  pre- 
scribed. 

A  person  laboring  under  a  bodily  distemper  may  be 
sensible  of  it — he  may  sincerely  wish  to  have  it  re- 
moved— he  may  know  the  individual  w^ho  proposes  to 
accomplish  his  cure,  and  believe  him  to  be  adequate  to 
the  task,  and  he  may  be  resolved  to  be  at  some  time  or 
other  indebted  to  his  skill  for  recovery ;  and  yet  through 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  365 

the  influence  of  an  easy  temper,  from  the  habit  of  de- 
laying what  is  urgent  and  important,  and  by  reason  of 
his  aversion  to  the  bitter  draught  that  he  must  take,  to 
the  painful  operation  that  he  must  undergo,  to  the  many 
sacrifices  of  self-indulgence  to  which  he  must  neces- 
sarily submit,  he  neglects  to  send  for  the  physician,  and 
to  follow  his  needful  advice,  and  so  he  falls  into  the 
grave. 

And  thus   it  is  with  a  multitude  of  sinners.     They 
feel  and  they  admit  that  sin  prevails  in  them, — that  it  is 
consuming  the  life's  blood  of  their  souls, — that  if  it  be 
not  taken   away   it  must    terminate   in    a    fatal  result. 
They  allow  that   Christ  is   divinely  appointed,  and  that 
he  is  every  way  qualified  to   accomplish  their  deliver- 
ance.    And  it  is  their  wish  and   their  purpose  to  com- 
mit themselves  to  his  care,  that  he  may  cleanse  them, 
and  heal  them,  and  bid  them  live.     But  then  there  is  a 
lisdessness  about  them  which  prevents  their  minds  from 
yielding  freely,  and  fully,  and  eagerly,  to   the   impres- 
sions that  have  been  produced  by  a  view  of  their  danger 
on  the    one  hand,  and  of  the  means  of  escape  on  the 
other.     That  which   has  been   emphatically  called  the 
"  thief  of  time,"  besets  and  deludes  them,  and  day  after 
day,  and  year  after  year  steals  on,  leaving  them   con- 
tented with  knowing  how  diseased  they  are,  and  how 
they  can  be  healed,  and  determined  withal  to  embrace 
a  convenient  season  for  resorting  to  the  mercy  and  the 
might  of  the  Redeemer.     Thus  they  linger  on  in  sin  and 
in  peril,  because  they  cannot  bring  themselves  to  submit 
to  all  that,  in  his  wisdom,  he  must  require  them  to  do 
and  to  become — to  renounce  the  gratifications  in  which 
they  have  been  fondly  delighting — to  mortify  their  in- 
ordinate affections, — to  "  cut  off  a  right  hand  or  to  pluck 
out  a  right  eye," — to  be  no  longer  slothful,  but  to  be 
active  in  the  exercises  of  piety  and  in  the  labors  of  right- 
eousness,— and  to  have  their  whole  system  under  such 
strict  government,  and  such  unceasing  control,  as  that 
they  shall  never  wilfully  give  way  to  a  corrupt   inclina- 
tion, and  never  wilfully  violate  a  divine  commandment. 
*ol 


366  SPIRITUAL    DISEASE  SER,   17. 

And  thus  it  happens  that  though  they  are  satisfied  that 
there  is  "  no  soundness  in  them,  and  though  they  have 
learned  that  "  there  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  that  there  is 
a  physician  there,"  the  health  of  their  souls  is  not  "  re- 
covered ;"  they  perversely  continue  to  feed  the  disease 
which,  in  its  simplest  form,  is  sufficient  to  destroy  them  ; 
every  successive  moment  that  they  spend  without  apply- 
ing 10  Christ  comes  to  them  with  accumulated  hazard ; 
the  very  sup  ineness  and  unconcern  which  at  first  kept 
them  away  from  him,  increase  with  the  growing  perils 
of  their  condition,  and  before  they  have  bestirred  them- 
selves to  do  what  should  never  have  been  left  undone, 
the  mortal  agony  arrives,  and  then  for  them  there  is  "  no 
balm  in  Gilead,  and  no  physician  there." 

O  let  me  entreat  such  of  you  as  recognise,  in  the  mir- 
ror I  have  now  held  up  a  true  resemblance  of  yourselves, 
to  reflect  seriously  on  what  you  are,  and  on  what  must 
befal  you,  if  you  persist  in  such  a  course.  It  is  an  awful 
thing  to  die  ;  but  it  is  infinitely  more  awful  to  die  in  your 
sins  ;  and  that  you  may  avoid  that  dread  consummation, 
be  entreated  to  flee  to  Christ,  by  w^hom,  and  by  whom 
alone,  it  can  be  surely  and  effectually  averted.  Act 
upon  your  convictions  of  your  helplessness  as  sinners, 
and  of  the  necessity  of  divine  aid — act  upon  these  con- 
victions with  firmness  and  decision — give  energy  to 
your  purpose  by  remembering  that  in  doing  so  is  in- 
volved not  merely  your  present  comfort,  but  your  ever- 
lasting welfare.  Do  not  allow  yourselves  to  be  cheated 
into  delay  :  The  disease  of  sin,  like  may  bodily  diseases, 
may  prove  fatal.in  a  moment ;  and,  even  though  no  such 
sudden  termination  should  take  place,  yet,  the  longer 
you  procrastinate,  and  the  more  opportunities  you  allow 
to  pass  unimproved,  the  more  disinclined  will  you  be  to 
seek  after  Christ  and  the  more  difficult  will  you  find  it 
to  surrender  yourselves  to  his  guidance.  Nor  be  deter- 
red or  discouraged  by  the  nature  of  his  prescriptions. 
Enough  for  you,  who  must  otherwise  die  eternally,  to 
know,  that  the  remedy  which  he  provides  is  effectual 
— that  he  demands  nothing  from  you  but  what  it  is  your 
duty  and  your  interest  to  render  cheerfully — that  sup- 


SER.   17.  AND    ITS    REMEDY.  367 

port,  and  comfort,  and  encouragement,  will  accompany 
it,  in  adequate  supply  and  in  abundant  measure — that 
your  spiritual  health  being  recovered,  you  will  have  am- 
ple recompense  in  its  returning  joys,  for  all  that  you 
may  have  suiFered,  or  sacrificed  in  the  pursuit — and 
that  you  will  at  length  be  admitted  where  sin  cannot  en- 
ter, and  where,  amidst  the  unfettered  and  delighted 
employment  of  the  powers  which  w^ere  rescued  from  its 
deadly  grasp,  it  will  be  one  of  your  gladdest  and  most 
grateful  recollections,  that  there  was  "  balm  in  Gilead, 
and  that  there  was  a  physician  there." 

3.  Once  more,  sinners  are  not  saved,  or  have  not 
their  spiritual  health  recovered,  because  they  will  not 
take  the  remedy  simply  and  submissively  as  it  is  admin- 
istered by  Christ. 

A  man  who  is  afflicted  with  bodily  disease  may  be 
quite  sensible  that  his  danger  is  great,  and  he  may  call 
in  a  physician  in  whom  he  confides,  and  he  may  ask 
him  to  prescribe  for  him.  But  if  he  will  follow^  only  a 
part  of  the  advice  that  is  given — if  he  insist  upon  prac- 
tising at  the  same  time  upon  himself — if,  from  ignorance 
or  pride,  or  perversity,  or  caprice,  he  be  determined  to 
have  a  large  share  in  the  merit  of  any  cure  that  may  be 
effected — his  disease  may  be  made  worse  instead  of  be- 
ing mitigated,  and  its  fatal  issue  may  be  rendered 
speedier  and  more  certain,  instead  of  being  retarded  or 
averted. 

In  like  manner,  how  many  are  there  laboring  under 
the  disease  of  sin,  who  feel  something  like  a  sincere  and 
anxious  desire  to  be  delivered  from  it,  and  who  apply 
to  Christ  for  his  assistance  in  accomplishing  the  object 
of  their  wishes ;  but  who  will  not  submit  to  his  skill  nor 
receive  his  help,  in  the  way  he  is  pleased  to  exercise  the 
oiie,  and  to  impart  the  other  !  They  put  their  own  igno- 
rance on  a  level  with  his  wisdom — their  own  weakness 
with  his  power — their  own  depravity  with  his  merit. 
And  thus  they  defeat  the  purpose  of  all  that  he  offers 
to  do  for  them.  They  counteract  his  saving  work. 
They  render  fruitless  the  remedies  that  he  prescribes. 


368  SPIRITUAL  DISEASE.  SER.   17. 

They  disobey,  and  dishonor,  and  provoke  him.  In  the 
mean  time  sin  retains  its  deadly  hold  of  their  heart,  and 
grows  and  strengthens  in  its  influence,  as  they  proceed 
in  their  infatuated  course  :  and,  at  last,  though  the  heal- 
ing "  balm"  is  beside  them,  and  though  the  great  "  Phy- 
sician" seems  to  be  their  refuge  and  their  hope,  they 
languish,  and  die,  and  pass  from  this  world  to  "  lift  up 
their  eyes  in  hell,  being  in  torment." 

O  let  not  such  infatuation  impose  upon  any  of  you, 
and  prevent  you  from  receiving  that  relief  which  you 
so  absolutely  need,  and  which  you  profess  so  earnest  a 
desire  to  obtain.  Give  yourselves  up  implicitly  to  the 
dictates  of  Christ.  He  is  able  to  cure  you ;  and  he 
neither  needs  your  help,  nor  will  he  accept  of  it.  He 
must  have  the  entire  honor  of  your  deliverance,  or  he 
will  do  nothing  for  you  at  all.  Trust  in  him  as  one  who 
both  can  and  will  make  you  whole — who  alone  is  in- 
vested with  the  power  of  bestowing  upon  you  that  ines- 
timable and  necessary  blessing — and  in  whose  hands 
you  are  sure  of  being  restored  to  spiritual  health  here, 
and  of  being  raised  to  immortal  life  hereafter.  And 
being  thus  indebted  to  him  for  salvation  from  the  foul- 
est calamity  that  can  distress  or  deform  or  degrade 
your  nature,  see  that  you  devote  your  renovated  pow- 
ersj  your  purified  affections,  your  "whole  soul,  body, 
and' spirit,"  to  his  service  and  praise.  And  w^ien  you 
behold  others  still  afflicted  with  it,  and  either  ignorant 
or  careless  of  the  means  by  which  they  may  be  rescued 
from  it,  take  pity  on  them  as  they  are  thus  "  lying  in 
their  blood,"  and  bear  your  practical  testimony,  and 
labor  to  draw  their  earnest  attention,  to  this  blessed 
truth,  that  their  case  is  not  hopeless,  unless  they  them- 
selves make  it  so,  for  that  you  have  found  it  realized  in 
your  happy  experience,  that  "  there  is  balm  in  Gilead, 
and  that  there  is  a  physician  there." 


SERMON    XVIII. 


CHRISTIAN   RESIGNATION 


PSALM  xxxix.  9. 

^^  I  was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth;  because  thou 
didst  it.^^ 

When  David  composed  this  Psalm,  he  was  evident!)' 
laboring  under  some  heavy  affliction.  What  that  was, 
we  are  not  informed.  But  whatever  it  may  have  been, 
it  seems  to  have  borne  hard  upon  his  spirit ;  for  he  says 
respecting  it,  "  I  am  consumed  by  the  blow  of  thine 
hand."  Nevertheless,  he  did  not  murmur  or  complain 
under  the  pressure  of  his  distress.  He  thought  of  the 
character,  and  the  providence,  and  the  purposes  of  that 
great  Being,  to  whose  appointment  he  traced  it,  and 
under  whose  government  he  suffered.  And  influenced 
by  the  considerations  which  these  suggested,  as  well  as 
upheld  by  the  grace  for  which  he  earnestly  prayed,  he 
repressed  every  mutinous  feeling,  and  cherished  the 
sentiments,  and  uttered  the  language,  of  a  becoming 
resignation.  He  looked  up  to  God  and  said  "  I  was 
dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth  ;  because  thou  didst  it." 
This  was  the  conduct  of  David.  But  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  there  are  many  of  us,  who,  though  placed 


370  CHRISTIAN   RESIGNATION.  SER.   18. 

in  his  circumstances,  do  not  imitate  his  example  ;  that 
with  some,  the  virtue  which  he  thus  exhibited  is  not 
maintained  at  all ;  and  that  with  others,  it  is  maintained 
but  partially  and  reluctantly  ;  that  where  the  words  of 
impatience  are  restrained  from  considerations  of  de- 
cency, the  feeling  of  it  is  allowed  to  predominate ;  and 
that  even  where  there  is  a  cordial  desire,  and  an  earn- 
est endeavor,  to  submit  to  the  will  of  God,  this  submis- 
sion is  not  practised  with  that  cheerfulness,  nor  attended 
with  that  satisfaction  which  every  true  Christian  will  be 
anxious  to  experience. 

To  provide  against  this  evil,  there  are  two  things  that 
must  be  principally  attended  to.  In  the  first  place  we 
must  study  to  be  the  real  disciples  of  Christ.  For  if 
we  be  only  nominally  so,  we  are  destitute  of  those 
principles,  without  which,  we  can  neither  see  the 
reasonableness,  nor  feel  the  workings  of  resignation. 
This  grace  has,  on  that  supposition,  nothing  either  to 
produce  or  to  support  it  in  our  hearts.  When  all  goes 
well  with  us,  we  may  talk  about  it,  and  inculcate  it  upon 
others,  and  blame  or  pity  those  by  whom  it  is  not  dis- 
played. But  when  the  day  of  our  own  probation 
comes,  we  have  nothing  to  hold  by  or  lean  upon  :  we 
have  no  sense  of  an  interest  in  the  favor  of  Him  by 
whom  we  are  tried,  no  habitual  confidence  in  the  wis- 
dom and  mercy  of  his  dealings  with  us,  no  well  ground- 
ed expectation  of  being  compensated  for  the  posses- 
sions and  enjoyments  of  which  we  are  deprived  ;  and 
therefore,  we  cannot  freely  or  sincerely  say  that  we  are 
resigned,  because  the  Lord  has  done  it.  And,  in  the 
second  place,  if  we  be  the  real  disciples  of  Christ,  we 
must  have  our  minds  turned  to  those  doctrines,  and 
habituated  to  those  exercises  of  religion,  which  may  be 
considered  as  affording  the  appropriate  grounds  of  sub- 
mission amidst  the  calamities  of  life.  Unless  we  have 
frequent  recourse  to  these — unless  we  live  under  their 
perpetual  influence — unless  we  wear  them  constantly 
as  defensive  armor  against  the  adversities  by  which  we 
are  assailed — it  is  obvious  that  when  these  come  upon 


SER.  18.  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  371 

US,  as  they  often  do,  unexpectedly  and  severely,  we  are 
not  prepared  to  meet  them  ;  our  fortitude  is  apt  to  fail; 
and  though  we  have  then,  as  we  have  always,  access  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  yet  our  application  there  cannot  be 
supposed  to  have  the  same  fervency  or  the  same  effect, 
as  if  we  had  gone  with  those  pious  impressions,  rivetted 
on  our  minds,  and  familiar  to  our  thoughts,  by  which 
we  are  constrained  to  say  in  the  words  and  spirit  of  the 
text,  "  I  was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth,  because 
thou  didst  it." 

Let  us  now  attend  shortly  to  some  of  those  consider- 
ations which  should  encourage  us  to  adopt  this  language 
in  its  full  and  genuine  import. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  when  God  visits  us  with  painful 
bereavements,  we  ought  to  be  resigned,  because  he 
only  takes  away  what  is  his  own. 

He  is  sole  and  absolute  proprietor  of  the  universe. 
It  is  impossible,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  that  he 
should  alienate  any,  the  minutest  part  of  it.  And,  con- 
sequently, if  he  has  bestowed  any  blessing  upon  us, 
there  is  necessarily  attached  to  the  gift  this  condition, 
that  being  still  his  own,  he  may  recal  it,  at  whatever 
time,  and  -in  whatever  way  he  pleases.  Accordingly, 
there  is  not  a  moment  that  we  can  say  justly  of  any  of 
the  comforts  of  life,  "  This  is  ours ;"  without  admitting 
at  the  same  time  that,  in  perfect  rectitude,  it  may  be 
taken  from  us,  whenever  it  seems  good  to  Him  by  whom 
it  was  originally  given.  He  might  indeed  promise  the 
perpetuity  of  the  boon  which  he  confers  ;  and  in  that 
case  his  faithfulness  would  be  a  sure  and  unfailing 
guarantee,  that  we  should  not  be  deprived  of  it.  But 
this  does  not  apply  to  any  of  the  good  things  of  a  pres- 
ent world.  Every  one  of  these  is,  unquestionably,  lim- 
ited. It  is  conveyed  to  us  for  a  particular  purpose; 
and  whenever  it  has  fulfilled  that  purpose,  or  when, 
through  our  perversity,  it  has  ceased  to  answer  its  pur- 
pose, or  when  the  removal  of  it  would  accomplish  a 
wiser  or  a  better  purpose,  it  can  be  no  longer  continued 
with  us.     Not  that  God  will  act  from  any  arbitrary  or 


Stf  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  SER.    18. 

capricious  motive.  His  conduct  must  be  always  dic- 
tated and  governed  by  tbe  laws  of  infinite  perfection. 
But  it  is  still  true  that  all  our  temporal  mercies  are  at 
his  sovereign  disposal ;  and  that,  without  any  violation 
of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his  character,  he  may  give 
them,  and  take  them  away,  and  restore  them,  and  re- 
sume them  again,  according  to  his  good  pleasure.  In 
all  this  there  is  no  injustice  on  his  part ;  for  may  He 
not  do  "  what  he  will  with  his  own  ?"  and  there  should 
be  no  disappointment  on  ours  ;  for  had  we  reflected,  as 
we  ought,  on  the  nature  of  our  condition  as  his  depend- 
ent creatures,  we  must  have  perceived  that  all  the  bless- 
ings we  enjoy  are  revocable  and  micertain,  and  we 
should,  therefore,  have  been  prepared  to  part  with  them, 
whenever  it  might  be  so  ordered  by  the  inscrutable 
counsels  of  his  providence.  Instead,  therefore  of  feel- 
ing that  any  injury  has  been  done  us,  when  we  are  de- 
prived even  of  those  comforts  which  are  dearest  to  ug^ 
and  on  whose  continuance  and  security  we  reckoned 
with  most  confidence — instead  of  thus  sinning  and 
charging  God  foolishly — it  becomes  us  to  be  grateful  to 
him  that  we  have  possessed  them  so  long,  and  in  such 
measure — to  condemn  ourselves  for  having  regarded 
tliem  too  much  as  our  own  absolute  property — and, 
henceforward,  to  receive,  and  to  hold,  every  blessing 
that  may  be  put  into  our  lot,  with  the  conviction  that  it 
is  still  the  Lord's,  and  that  he  will  do  nothing  but  what 
is  right,  when  he  sees  proper  to  recal  it  either  in  part 
or  altogether. 

We  cannot  help,  indeed,  forming  attachments  to 
earthly  objects :  this  is  not  only  natural,  but  subservient 
to  our  duty,  and  conducive  to  our  happiness.  And 
there  is  nothing,  either  in  reason  or  in  religion,  which 
forbids  us  to  feel  and  to  cherish  such  attachments,  when 
we  do  not  thereby  devote  to  the  creature  what  should 
be  devoted  to  the  Creator,  and  lay  up  for  ourselves  a 
store  of  future  disappointment  and  pain.  But  surely  it 
is  wise  to  have  them  qualified  and  subdued,  by  the  ha- 
bitual persuasion,  that  they  are  liable  to  be  dissolved, 


SER.   18.  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  373 

not  by  what  is  called  accident — not  by  the  malice  or 
violence  of  our  fellow-men — not  by  the  power  of  a 
blind  and  irresistible  fate,  but  by  the  will  of  Hioi  who 
"  ruleth  over  all ;"  and  who,  when  he  takes  from  us  the 
objects  of  our  affection,  only  takes  from  us  what  belongs 
to  himself  by  divine  inalienable  right.  And  if  we  be 
accustomed  to  take  this  view  of  the  subject,  if  we  not 
only  speculatively  assent  to  it  as  an  abstract  truth,  but 
have  it  as  a  part  of  our  practical  creed,  and  constantly 
realize  its  truth,  and  lay  our  account  with  its  exempli- 
fication, in  our  personal  experience,  it  will,  without  im- 
pairing one  generous  or  useful  sentiment,  prevent  us 
from  indulging  in  fretfulness,  or  murmuring  under  our 
privations,  and  will  lead  us  to  surrender  any  comfort 
whatever,  and  to  make  the  surrender  with  patience  and 
readiness  into  the  hands  of  God,  from  whom  we  at  first 
received  it,  who  in  kindness  has  lent  it  to  us  for  the 
passing  day,  or  for  the  passing  year,  and  who  is  as 
righteous  in  taking  back,  as  he  was  merciful  in  bestow- 
ing the  gift  whose  loss  we  deplore. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  should  not  open  our 
mouth  with  complaints  when  we  are  visited  with  painful 
bereavements,  but  observe  the  silence  of  resignation, 
because  it  is  God  who  inflicts  them,  and  the  same  God 
accompanies  them  with  consolation  and  support. 

In  our  very  darkest  and  deepest  afflictions  of  a  tem- 
poral kind,  it  is  seldom,  if  indeed  ever,  that  we  are 
abandoned  to  unmixed  and  unalleviated  suffering.  To 
whatever  deprivations  we  are  subjected,  there  are 
always  some  comforts  left  behind,  or  some  new  com- 
forts conveyed  to  us;  which,  if  they  do  not  compensate 
what  has  been  taken  from  us,  tend  at  least  to  diminish 
the  extent  and  severity  of  the  loss.  This,  indeed,  may 
not  be  perceived  or  felt  at  the  very  moment  that  any 
calamity  has  overtaken  us.  But  when  our  grief  has  so 
far  subsided,  as  to  allow  us  to  form  a  calm  and  correct 
estimate  of  our  situation,  we  shall  be  sensible  that  there 
remains  to  us  much  more  of  the  good  things  of  this  life, 
than  we  at  first  imagined  or  were  willing  to  allow.  We 
32 


374  CHRISTIAN    KESIGNA.TION.  SER.   18. 

may  have  lost  a  friend,  but  some  are  still  left  to  cheer 
us,  or  others  are  raised  up  for  our  comfort  in  adversity. 
Our  worldly  substance  may  have  failed  ;  but  health  is 
still  spared,  and  opportunities  are  still  provided,  by 
which  we  may  recover  our  independence  and  renew 
our  usefulness.  One  favorite  speculation  may  have 
come  to  nothing,  but  another  has  succeeded.  Our  good 
name  may  have  been  injured  by  the  tongue  of  slander, 
but  we  have  the  means  of  vindicating  what  has  been 
thus  traduced,  and  of  either  living  down  the  calumny, 
or  exposing  its  injustice  and  malevolence.  We  look  on 
the  one  hand,  and  we  see  the  darkness  of  adversity  ap- 
proaching us  :  but  we  look  on  the  other,  and  behold  the 
light  of  joy  is  springing  up  to  cheer  our  hearts,  and 
chase  away  our  sorrows.  And  has  it  not  often  actually 
happened  in  the  case  of  the  afflicted,  that  "  their  latter 
end,"  like  that  of  Job,  has  been  "  much  more  than  their 
beginning  ?"  In  all  this  there  is  something  that  is  well 
fitted  to  inspire  us  with  patience  and  contentment. 
Whatever  we  suffer  is  much  less,  and  whatever  we  en- 
joy is  much  more  than  we  deserve.  Considering  that 
we  are  sinnersj  and  that  the  best  of  us  are  great  sin- 
ners, we  may  well  ask,  "shall  we  receive  good  at  the 
hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  also  ?"  And 
we  may  well  wonder  that  he  has  given  us  so  much  of 
the  one,  and  laid  upon  us  so  little  of  the  other.  Nor  is 
there  a  blessing  of  which  we  are  allowed  to  partake, 
that  does  not  intimate  to  us  the  benignity  of  Him  by 
whom  we  are  afflicted,  and  give  us  the  assurance  that, 
notwithstanding  all  that  he  is  causing  us  to  suffer,  he 
has  not  abandoned  us  to  destitution  and  pain,  but  has 
much  kindness  in  store  for  us,  if  we  will  but  listen  to 
hi?  warning  voice,  and  "turn  our  feet  unto  his  testi- 
monies." 

But  He  gives  us  consolation  and  support  of  a  spirit- 
ual kind,  far  more  precious,  and  far  more  efficacious 
still.  Let  our  temporal  privations  be  as  numerous  and 
as  severe  as  they  may,  still  there  are  sources  of  com- 
fort which  are  not  only  accessible  to  us,  but  to  which 


SER.   18.  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  375 

we  are  invited,  and  from  which  we  may  derive  all  that 
is  needful  to  sustain  our  minds.  We  have  the  Bible, 
containing  doctrines  that  make  us  acquainted  with  that 
system  of  administration  under  which  we  are  placed, 
and  promises  to  excite  and  animate  our  hopes,  and 
counsels  to  direct  our  steps  in  the  most  rugged  paths 
that  we  have  to  tread,  and  examples  to  bring  before  us, 
in  all  its  excellence  and  all  its  power,  the  virtue  of  suf- 
fering patience.  We  have  "the  throne  of  grace," 
where  we  may  go,  in  the  confidence  of  faith,  to  un- 
bosom our  griefs  to  our  heavenly  Father,  to  commit 
ourselves  to  his  mercy  and  protection,  and  to  obtain 
"  tlie  help"  that  he  has  promised  to  send  us  in  "  our 
time  of  need."  We  have  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the 
comforter  of  the  people  of  God  in  the  season  of  distress, 
and  who  will  communicate  to  us  those  secret,  but  real 
and  powerful  influences,  which  must  avail  to  enlighten 
us  in  our  thickest  darkness,  and  to  give  us  that  fortitude 
which  no  dangers  can  appal,  and  no  calamities  subdue. 
And  we  have  all  the  various  ordinances  of  religion,  by 
mingling  in  which  our  thoughts  are  solemnly  directed  to 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel;  and  our  spirits  refreshed 
from  time  to  time  with  the  exercises  of  devotion ;  and 
our  sorrows  soothed  by  the  sympathies  of  the  church; 
and  our  souls  brought  near  to  him  who  is  the  "  Father 
of  mercies,"  and  the  "  God  of  all  consolation ;  and  our 
views  carried  forward  to  the  rest  and  peace  and  sin- 
lessness  and  joy  of  that  kingdom  which  He  "  has  pre- 
pared for  us  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

And  having  such  alleviations  and  such  comforts  as 
these,  it  would  ill  become  us  to  allow  our  feelings  to 
rebel  against  their  compassionate  Author,  because  he  is 
pleased,  in  his  wise  and  inscrutable  providence,  to  de- 
prive us  of  blessings  which  we  have  no  title  to  retain, 
and  to  inflict  upon  us  sufferings,  which  it  must  be  our 
interest  to  bear.  Let  us  rather  praise  him  that  he 
touches  us  with  such  a  lenient  hand  ;  let  us  sing  of  his 
mercy,  while  we  are  enduring  his  judgments  ;  let  our 
meditations  be  upon  the  blessings  that  are  left  us,  while 


376  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  SER.  18. 

our  hearts  are  troubled  by  the  departure  of  what  was 
dear  to  us ;  and  looking  to  the  consolations  which  God 
imparts,  as  well  as  to  the  sorrows  which  we  feel,  and 
regarding  him  as  the  fountain  from  which  both  proceed, 
let  our  feelings,  our  language,  and  our  conduct,  be  those 
of  the  Psalmist,  as  expressed  in  the  words  of  our  text, 
*'  I  was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth  ;  because  thou 
didst  it." 

3.  In  the  third  place,  we  should  be  resigned  to  the 
will  of  God  when  he  afflicts  us,  because  affliction  is  for 
our  good. 

To  mere  worldly  persons  there  is  nothing  good  but 
that  which  gives  them  much  pleasure,  unaccompanied 
by  pain  ;  which  gratifies  their  senses;  which  advances 
their  temporal  prosperity;  which  raises  ihem  to  honor? 
to  wealth,  to  influence  ;  and  which  permits  them  to  enjoy 
all  these  without  interruption  or  annoyance.  But  to 
true  Christians,  that,  and  that  alone  is  good,  whatever  it 
may  be,  which  promotes  their  spiritual  and  immortal  in- 
terests ;  which  tends  to  make  them  wiser  and  better ; 
which  strengthens  their  religious  principles,  and  improves 
their  moral  character  ;  which  renders  them  faithful  ser- 
vants of  God  here,  and  prepares  them  for  the  glories  of 
his  presence  hereafter.  And  in  this  view,  we  must  be 
satisfied,  from  many  considerations,  that  the  trials  and 
distresses  in  which  we  are  involved,  have  for  their  great 
and  ultimate  object,  our  essential  welfare.  What  is  the 
character  of  that  Being  who  appoints  them,  or  who  per- 
mits them  to  befal  us?  He  is  a  God  of  infinite  mercy 
— who  can  have  no  pleasure  in  our  sufl^erings — who 
therefore  does  not  "  afflict  us  willingly" — and  whose 
only  design  must  be  to  render  us  more  holy  and  more 
happy.  And  while  his  goodness  prompts  him  to  form 
and  to  pursue  this  purpose  respecting  us,  he  prosecutes 
and  accomplishes  it  by  means  of  affliction,  because  his 
unerring  wisdom  selects  that  as  the  fittest,  and  most 
powerful,  and  most  efficient,  method  of  securing  what 
he  benevolently  intends.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  the 
propriety  and  suitableness  of  this  part,  of  his  plan,  which, 


SER.   18.  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  377 

however,  must  be  perfect,  whether  we  can  comprehend 
it  or  not.  It  is  evidently  called  for  by  the  state  of  our 
nature,  and  the  circumstances  of  our  condition..  Our 
nature  is  corrupted  j  and,  under  the  influence  of  this 
corruption,  we  are  prone  to  indulge  in  sin  and  to  forget 
the  obligations  of  duty — apt  to  be  intoxicated  with  pros- 
perity, and  to  consider  this  world,  when  all  our  wishes 
are  gratified,  and  all  our  dreams  of  joy  are  undisturbed, 
not  as  our  temporary  residence,  but  as  our  everlasting 
rest.  And  our  outward  circumstances  engage  so  much 
of  our  attention,  and  present  so  many  things  to  occupy 
our  thoughts  and  fascinate  our  hearts,  that,  if  unmingled 
with  any  thing  that  is  harsh  and  distasteful  to  our  feel- 
ings, we  insensibly  become  the  very  slaves  of  worldly 
pursuits  and  pleasures,  and  continue  to  live  as  if  we 
were  never  to  die ;  as  if  we  had  no  account  to  render, 
no  immortality  to  hope  for,  and  no  spiritual  work  to 
perform.  Now  this  miserable  and  fatal  enchantment  is 
broken  by  affliction.  When  the  comforts  which  we 
idolized,  or  on  which  we  doated,  are  taken  from  us, 
this  demonstrates  them  to  be  unsubstantial  and  uncer- 
tain, and  unworthy  of  all  the  fond  regard  we  paid  them 
We  see  more  than  ev^er  the  necessity  of  seeking  for 
happiness  in  the  favor  of  an  unchangeable  God,  in  the 
faith  of  a  never-failing  Redeemer,  in  the  hope  of  an 
immortal  inheritance.  And  "  setting  our  affections  on 
things  above,"  we  are  led  to  cultivate,  with  greater  dil- 
igence, that  pious  and  holy  character  which  it  is  the 
grand  object  of  the  gospel  to  form,  and  by  which  we 
are  to  be  prepared  for  everlasting  life. 

And  while  we  draw  this  conclusion  from  reasoning 
on  the  character  of  God,  and  from  the  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances of  fallen  man,  it  is  expressly  taught  and  de~ 
clared  in  the  sacred  sciiptures.  There,  God  is  repre- 
sented as  our  Father,  who,  all-wise  and  all-affectionate, 
does  not  correct  his  children  from  caprice,  nor  from 
malignity,  nor  for  purposes  of  vengeance — but  for  their 
reformation  and  advantage,  that  they  may  be  "partak- 
ers of  his  holiness."     "  No  chastening  for  the  present 


378  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  SER,  18. 

seemeth  joyous  but  grievous  ;  nevertheless,  afterwards, 
it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  to  them 
that  are  exercised  thereby."  And  "our  light  afflic- 
tions, which  are  but  for  a  moment,  shall  work  out  for 
us  a  far  more  exceeding,  even  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory." 

The  truth  of  these  Scriptures  has  been  realized  in 
the  experience  of  thousands.  When  David  said,  "  It 
is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted,"  he  spoke  in 
the  name  of  all  the  people  of  God  who  have  been  re- 
buked of  Him,  and  have  not  despised  his  chastening. 
They  have  been  chosen,  perhaps,  "  in  the  furnace  of 
affliction."  They  have  come  out  of  it,  purified  from 
the  dross  of  sin.  They  have  had  their  affections  de- 
tached from  the  world.  They  have  become  more 
heavenly-minded.  They  have  been  brought  back  from 
their  wanderings  after  vanity ;  restored  to  a  more  inti- 
mate communion  with  God  ;  and  taught  to  love,  and  to 
keep,  and  to  delight  in  his  commandments.  He  has 
taken  from  them  the  children  whom  they  had  suffered 
to  usurp  the  throne  of  their  hearts  ;  and  they  have  been 
instructed  by  this  painful  and  salutary  rebuke  to  give 
back  to  Him  that  devotedness  of  affection  which  they 
had  hitherto  lavished  on  the  creatures  of  a  day,  and  to 
be  more  anxious  that  they  and  theirs  should  be  inher- 
itors of  that  "  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,"  than 
that  they  should  continue  to  be  united  to  one  another 
by  those  ties  which,  however  strong  and  however  ten- 
der, bind  them  only  to  the  earth  and  keep  them  far 
from  heaven.  He  has  deprived  them  of  their  riches : 
and  they  have  learned,  in  the  school  of  poverty,  to  lift, 
to  the  better  and  more  enduring  treasures  that  are  on 
high,  that  soul  which  had  been  meanly  and  ingloriously 
wedded  to  the  paltry  treasures  of  the  dust.  He  has 
blasted  their  health ;  and  on  the  bed  of  sickness  and 
languishing,  during  wearisome  days  and  nights  of  rest- 
lessness and  pain,  they  are  feeling  the  emptiness  of 
those  vain  amusements  in  which  they  had  too  long  and 
too  fondly  indulged,  and  are  reading,  in  this  leaf  of 


fiER.  18.  CHRISTIAN   RESIGNATION.  379 

the  book  of  providence,  those  lessons  of  humility  and 
sobriety  and  patience  which  the  theatre  of  gay  life  was 
but  ill  calculated  to  afford,  and  are  gradually  ripening 
either  for  a  closer  walk  with  God  in  this  weary  wil- 
derness, or  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  presence  in  the 
promised  land.  He  has  permitted  their  reputation  to 
be  tarnished  by  the  breath  of  calumny  ;  and,  no  longer 
elevated  by  the  applauses  of  erring  and  deceitful  mortals, 
they  are  now  candidates  for  the  honor  and  the  praise 
that  come  from  God,  for  the  testimony  of  a  good  con- 
science, and  for  the  approving  sentence  of  their  Judge 
at  last. 

It  is  thus  that  God  appoints,  or  overrules,  the  adver- 
sities of  life  for  the  benefit  of  his  people,  converts  their 
afflictions  into  blessings,  and  makes  them  at  once  tlie 
tokens  of  present  love,  and  the  pledges  of  future  glory. 
And  shall  we  repine,  with  this  great  truth  pressed  upon 
us,  by  every  view  of  his  character,  and  by  all  that  his 
word  has  told  us  ;  and  by  the  uniform  experience  of 
those  who  have  put  their  trust  in  him — shall  we  repine 
when  he  disappoints  our  earthly  hopes,  and  puts  the 
cup  of  sorrow  into  our  hand,  and  even  makes  us  drink 
it  to  the  very  dregs  ?  Shall  not  we  rather  kiss  the  rod 
with  which  he  smites  us  ?  Shall  not  we  be  disposed  to 
receive  all  his  corrections  with  patience  and  submis- 
sion ?  And  when  the  feelings  of  feeble  and  afflicted 
nature  would  prompt  us  to  deprecate  the  sorrows  he  is 
laying  upon  us,  shall  not  we  still  say,  "Nevertheless,  O 
Lord,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  "  I  was  dumb, 
I  opened  not  my  mouth  ;  because  thou  didst  it." 

4.  There  is  still  another  consideration  by  which  we 
ought  to  be  influenced  when  involved  in  affliction.  God 
who  sends  it,  is  entitled  to  our  patient  acquiescence, 
our  cheerfnl  submission,  because  at  the  very  time  that 
we  are  suffering  under  his  hand,  he  has  in  reserve, 
and  is  preparing  for  us,  the  happiness  of  heaven  and 
immortality. 

I  need  not,  my  friends,  attempt  to  expatiate  on  the 
exquisite   nature,   the   absolute    certainty,   the    infinite 


380  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  SER.   18. 

value,  and  the  eternal  duration  of  that  happiness.  We 
have  no  adequate  description  of  it  to  giv^e  you ;  and 
you  are  not  able  to  form  any  adequate  conception  of  it. 
Yet  you  are  surely  so  far  acquainted  with  it  as  to  know 
that  it  is  an  attainment  with  a  view  to  which  no  labor, 
no  suffering,  no  discipline,  can  be  deemed  dispropor- 
tioned.  And  scripture  has  expressly  said,  that  "  the 
sufferings  of  a  present  life  are  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed." 

Now,  with  such  a  prospect  before  us,  would  it  not 
be  foolish,  and  unbecoming,  and  inconsistent,  to  mur- 
mur at  any  evils  we  may  have  to  endure  in  our  passage 
to  heaven — to  grudge  the  hardships  of  the  wilderness 
through  which  our  covenant  God  is  leading  us  to  the 
land  of  promise — to  be  impatient  amidst  the  darkness 
which  shall  ere  long  be  succeeded  by  the  dawn  and  by 
the  brightness  of  an  eternal  day  ?  Do  not  the  soldier, 
and  the  mariner,  and  the  man  of  business,  submit  to 
many  anxieties  and  pains,  borne  up  and  animated  by 
the  anticipations  of  successful  enterprise,  and  rewarded 
perseverance  ?  An-d  shall  we  be  less  contented,  or  less 
resigned  to  the  privations  of  our  lot;  we,  who  look  for- 
ward with  a  hope  resting  on  the  promise  of  a  faithful 
and  unchangeable  God,  to  "  the  crown  of  life  which 
fadeth  not  away  ?"  Every  thing  in  our  case  contributes 
to  inspire  us  with  the  temper  of  the  Psalmist  in  its  high- 
est and  its  noblest  exercise.  Be  our  tiibulations  what 
they  may,  they  must  soon  come  to  a  perpetual  end,  and 
be  succeeded  by  a  joy  that  is  ineflable,  and  not  only  shall 
they  be  succeeded  by  a  joy  that  is  ineffable,  but  they  are 
an  essential  part  of  that  course  of  discipline  which  our 
heavenly  Father  employs  to  prepare  us  for  entering 
into  glory.  So  that  to  be  disquieted,  and  cast  down, 
and  made  impatient,  by  our  afflictions,  is  to  undervalue 
the  happiness  of  the  heavenly  state — to  prefer  our  pres- 
ent ease  to  our  future  salvation,  and  to  arraign  the  wis- 
dom of  that  plan  by  which  God  is  training  us  up  for  the 
exercises  and  the   enjoyments  of  the   celestial  world. 


SER.  18.  CHRISTIAN    RESIGNATION.  381 

Only  let  us  think  of  our  ultimate  and  eternal  destiny,  as 
"  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,"  and  of 
the  connexion  which  it  has  with  our  sufferings  and  our 
conduct  in  this  our  scene  of  probation  ;  and  we  shall  see 
abundant  reason  to  cast  ourselves  upon  the  good  pleas- 
ure of  him  who  gives  to  us,  and  who  takes  away  from 
us,  as  the  God  of  earth  and  of  heaven,  of  time  and  of 
eternity ;  and  to  say,  in  the  words  of  our  text,  even 
tliough  we  have  had  sorrow  upon  sorrow,  "  1  was  dumb,  I 
opened  not  my  mouth  ;  because  thou  didst  it." 

Those  of  you  who  have  been  visited  with  severe 
afflictions,  would  do  well  to  consider  how  you  carried 
yourselves  in  those  trying  circumstances.  If  you  were 
fretful  and  impatient,  and  complained  that  you  were 
hardly  dealt  with,  this  was  unworthy  of  your  Christian 
profession,  because  it  was  arraigning  the  goodness,  the 
wisdom,  the  justice  of  God  ;  and  you  have  much  rea« 
son,  therefore  to  humble  yourselves  before  him,  to 
ask  his  forgiveness,  and  to  be  vigilant  against  the  return 
of  such  a  discontented,  unsubmissive  spirit,  when  you 
are  again  subjected  to  disappointment  and  distress. 
And,  even  though  you  have  not  gone  the  length  of  ut- 
tering the  language  of  complaint — though  you  have  been 
literally  silent,  and  appeared  to  bow  before  the  dispen- 
sations which  befel  you, — yet,  if  this  were  owing  merely 
to  constitutional  apathy — or  if  it  were  produced  by  en- 
gaging either  in  the  business  or  amusements  of  the 
world — or  if  it  proceeded  from  causes  unconnected 
with  the  faith  of  the  gospel, — on  any  of  these  supposi- 
tions, there  was  no  real  resignation  to  the  divine  will — 
nothing  of  the  gracious  sentiment  which  is  intimated  in 
the  text — nothing,  in  short,  but  a  substitution  of  some- 
thing of  your  own  for  that  which  acknowledges  God ; 
and,  therefore,  you  have,  in  this  case  also,  reason  to 
confess  your  unworthiness  to  him,  and  to  pray  for  re- 
mission, and  to  be  solicitous  that  your  mind  may  be  so 
renewed,  and  so  regulated,  and  so  influenced,  as  that, 
in  every  future  time  of  trouble,  your  submission  may 


382  CHRISTIAN   RESIGNATION.  SER.  18. 

result  from  Christian  principle  and  be  quickened  by- 
Christian  hope,  and  that  you  may  feel  what  the  Psalmist 
felt,  when  you  say  what  he  said, — "  I  was  dumb,  I 
opened  not  my  mouth  ;  because  thou  didst  it." 

Let  me  now  address  myself  more  particularly  to  the 
younger  part  of  my  audience.     You  have  not  yet,  per- 
haps, had  many  trials  to   distress  you  ;  but  the  Bible 
tells  you,  that  "  man  is  born  to  trouble,  as  the  sparks 
fly  upward :"  and  though  every  thing  wear  a  gay  and 
smiling  aspect  around  you,  you  know  not  how  soon 
the  gloom  of  sorrow  may  overcast  all  your  prospects. 
"  Remember,  then,  your  Creator  in  the  days  of  your 
youth,  before  the  years  draw  nigh  in  which  you  shall 
say  that  you  have   no   pleasure  in  them."      Prepare, 
even  now,  for  the  difficulties,  and  misfortunes,  and  evils 
of  advancing  life.     And  recollect,  that  your  best  and 
only  preparation  consists  in  your  being  at  peace  with 
God — in  acquainting  yourselves  with  him — in  having  a 
deep-seated  faith  in  all  the  truths  and  promises  of  his 
word — in  cultivating  an  experimental  recognition  of  the 
perfect  excellence  of  every  part  of  his  character  and 
his  administration — and  in  holding  habitual  communion 
with  him  both  as  the  Hearer  of  prayer,  and  as  the  God 
of  comfort.     If  you  thus  live  by  faith  in   God   and   in 
Christ,  you  are  ready  for  whatever  trials  and  tribula- 
tions await  you.     And  being  "  reconciled  to   God  by 
the  death  of  his  Son,"  and   confiding  in  his  paternal 
management  of  all  that  concerns  you,  and  tracing  every 
event  that  befals  you  to  his  will  and   to   his  doing,  and 
satisfied  that  he   orders  all  things  wisely  and  well,  and 
will  make  them  work  together  for  your  present  and  your 
eternal  good, — resignation  will  become  the  prevailing 
temper  of  your  souls.     You  will  not  only  be   patient 
when  adversity  comes,  but  you  will  be  enabled  to  re- 
joice in  it.     And  thus,  while   it  will  secure  your  peace 
amidst  the  most  formidable  ills  of  life,  it  will  fit  you  for 
encountering  the  agonies  and  the  terrors  of  death,  and 
be  instrumental  in  preparing  you  for  entering  that  happy 


SER.  18.  CHRISTIAN   RESIGNATION.  388 

world  where  those  dwell  who  have  "  come  through 
much  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes,  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 

And  as  it  is  the  gospel  which  not  only  inculcates  this 
grace,  but  holds  out  the  comforts  and  the  views  by 
which  it  is  formed  and  cherished,  let  the  gospel  be 
precious  in  our  regard.  Let  us  cling  to  it  in  every 
dark  and  distressful  hour,  for  our  own  support.  And 
let  us  be  anxious  that  it  may  go  forth,  in  all  its  bless- 
ings, and  in  all  its  power,  among  the  sinful  and  sorrow- 
ing children  of  mortality. 


SERMON    XIX. 


THE   ACCEPTED    TIME. 


2  CORINTHIANS  vi.  2. 

"  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  behold,  now  is  the 
day  of  salvation." 

In  the  context,  the  apostle  represents  himself,  and  his 
fellow-laborers  in  the  ministry,  as  working  together  for 
promoting  and  accomplishing  the  salvation  of  sinners. 
He  entreats  those  to  whom' they  address  themselves  not 
to  frustrate  their  object — not  to  reject  the  message  of 
reconciliation  which  they  were  commissioned  to  publish 
and  to  urge — not  to  despise  or  to  refuse  that  which  is 
the  appointed  provision  of  divine  mercy  for  redeeming 
guilty  souls  from  misery  and  ruin.  To  enforce  this  ex- 
hortation, the  apostle  refers  to  a  passage  in  Isaiah,  in 
which  God  promises  to  give  the  Gentiles  to  the  Mes- 
siah, as  a  reward  of  his  mediatorial  undertaking.  "  I 
have  heard  thee  in  a  time  accepted,  and  in  the  day  of 
salvation  have  I  succored  thee."  And,  as  this  promise 
is  made  to  Christ,  the  aposde  extends  its  application  to 
all  who  live  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  reminding 
them,  that,  even  under  that  dispensation  of  grace  and 


SER.  19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  385 

mercy,  a  limited  period  is  fixed  for  the  return  of  sin- 
ners unto  God,  and  that  there  is  danger  in  delaying, 
for  the  shortest  time,  to  yield  to  that  beseeching  voice 
which  calls  on  sinners  to  be  reconciled  and  to  live.  It 
is  in  this  point  of  view  that  we  are  now  to  consider  the 
language  of  the  text, — "Behold,  now  is  the  accepted 
time  ;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

It  is  the  wish  of  most  men  to  obtain  salvation  ;  and 
therefore,  it  is  their  resolution  that,  at  some  time  or 
other,  they  will  .repent.  They  have  not  yet  forsaken 
their  sins;  they  have  not  yet  embraced  the  Saviour 
whom  God  has  sent ;  nor  is  it  just  at  this  instant  that 
the  work  is  to  be  undertaken.  They  are  engaged  in 
some  important  business  which  requires  all  their  atten- 
tion. They  have  met  with  some  worldly  disaster 
which  has  disturbed  their  thoughts.  They  are  in 
pursuit  of  some  pleasure  which  is  not  very  consist- 
ent with  a  change  to  the  better.  They  (eel  an  indo- 
lence of  temper  which  indisposes  them  for  mental  ex- 
ertion. Or  they  cannot  spare  as  much  time  from  their 
ordinary  avocations  as  will  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 
Some  object  or  another  engages  them  at  present,  and 
furnishes  them  with  a  pretext  for  delay. 

But  they  are  still  determined  not  to  let  life  pass 
away  without  doing  what  they  are  sensible  must  be 
done  if  they  would  be  saved.  They  will  not  always 
be  so  much  employed  with  other  things  as  to  prevent 
them  from  attending  to  the  one  thing  needful.  Some 
favorable  opportunity  will  occur,  of  which  they  will  not 
fail  to  take  immediate  advantage.  If  none  should  oc- 
cur of  itself,  they  will  create  one,  and  force  a  few  pass- 
ing hours  into  their  service.  No  difficulty,  no  opposi- 
tion, no  temptation,  shall  then  frustrate  their  design. 
And  if,  contrary  to  tlieir  expectation,  any  thing  of  this 
kind  should  take  place,  one  alternative  still  remains, 
which  they  will  most  unquestionably  adopt.  Nothing 
shall  hinder  them  from  making  their  peace  with  God 
when  they  are  going  to  die.  Die  they  must;  and  at 
that  interesting  period,  the  best  fitted,  as  they  imagine, 
33 


386  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SER.   19. 

for  religious  exercises  and  moral  reformation,  no  cir- 
cumstance surely  can  intervene  to  prevent  them  from 
accomplishing  that  which  they  had  always  wished,  and 
always  intended  to  accomplish.  Whatever  they  have 
been  in  times  past,  whatever  they  now  are,  whatever 
they  may  continue  to  be,  they  will  at  least  leave  the 
world  in  a  state  of  due  preparation  for  another  and  a 
better. 

Thus  lulled  into  security  by  their  resolutions  of  future 
amendment,  thus  perfectly  satisfied  that  they  have 
nothing  to  fear,  because  they  are  determined  to  repent, 
they  go  on  to  indulge  themselves  in  all  the  desires  of 
a  corrupted  heart,  and  in  all  the  practices  of  an  evil 
world — to  disregard  the  secret  remonstrances  of  con- 
science, to  despise  the  warnings  and  invitations  of  the 
word  of  God,  to  trample  on  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  to 
do  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace.  They  dream  not 
of  the  ten  thousand  circumstances  which  may  occur  to 
render  a  change  of  character  unattainable.  They  rea- 
son with  themselves  as  if  repentance  were  the  easiest 
thing  which  they  can  attempt,  as  if  all  its  means  were 
obedient  to  their  control,  or  as  if  Providence  were  to 
work  miracles  to  preserve  them  from  the  common  ac- 
cidents of  life,  and  the  common  infirmities  of  nature, 
that  their  feast  of  criminal  pleasure  may  suffer  no  inter- 
ruption, and  that  they  may  be  saved,  though  they  have 
industriously  labored  to  destroy  their  souls.  Or  if  some 
thought  of  danger  should  intrude,  if  something  should 
happen  to  excite  a  suspicion  that  their  latter  end  may 
find  them  at  once  unprepared  and  incapable  of  prepar- 
ing for  eternity,  they  banish  the  unwelcome  supposition 
by  entering  into  a  calculation  of  chances,  which,  as 
may  be  readily  imagined,  always  bends  to  their  passions, 
and  terminates  in  conformity  to  the  secret  bias  of  their 
wills.  They  flatter  themselves  *with  the  persuasion 
which  originally  deluded  them,  and  which  deludes  them 
still,  that  they  wish — that  they  not  only  wish  but  intend 
— that  they  not  only  intend  but  resolve,  to  amend  be- 
fore they  go  off  the  stage  of  life,  let  that  event  take 


SER.   19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  387 

place  when  it  will  and  as  it  may.  And,  therefore, 
every  allurement  prevails  as  soon  as  it  presents  itself, 
and  religion  is  neglected,  habitually  neglected,  as  a 
tiling  of  no  immediate  concern,  or  regarded  only  as  the 
employment  of  a  future  day.  In  this  manner  many  go 
on  sinning  and  resolving,  and  sinning  and  resolving  still, 
till  at  last  they  die  as  they  had  lived,  enemies  to  God, 
children  of  wrath  and  heirs  of  hell. 

Now,  to  be  convinced  of  the  unreasonableness  and 
folly,  the  guilt  and  danger  of  this  conduct,  consider, 

I.  In  the  first  place,  the  nature  of  repentance  itself, 
and  the  commandment  of  God  concerning  it. 

What  is  repentance  ?  It  is  turning  from  sin  to  holi- 
ness ;  from  sin,  which  is  the  shame  and  reproach  of 
our  nature,  to  holiness,  w^hich  is  its  honor  and  its  glory ; 
from  sin,  which  is  the  abominable  thing  that  God  hates, 
to  holiness,  which  is  infinitely  amiable  in  his  sight; 
from  sin,  which  acts  the  tyrant  over  all  who  are  subject 
to  its  powder,  to  holiness,  wdiich  constitutes  the  most 
perfect  freedom  that  a  rational  creature  can  enjoy  ; 
from  sin,  which  makes  us  liable  to  eternal  condemna- 
tion, to  holiness,  which  implies  our  acceptance  of  the 
appointed  Saviour,  and  fits  us  for  eternal  life. 

But  if  this  account  of  repentance  be  accurate,  with 
what  propriety  can  we  put  it  off  to  a  future  occasion  ?  Can 
it  be  reasonable  to  delay  consulting  the  original  dignity 
of  our  nature  ?  to  delay  what  is  well  pleasing  to  him  who 
is  the  greatest  and  the  best  of  beings  ?  to  delay  asserting 
tliat  spiritual  liberty  which  is  so  valuable,  and  which  we 
must  forego  so  long  as  we  continue  in  sin  ?  to  delay  ac- 
cepting of  Him  through  whom  alone  we  can  obtain  sal- 
vation ?  to  delay  entering  into  a  state  of  peace  with  God 
and  with  our  own  minds  ?  to  delay  pursuing  an  object 
which  we  must  allow  to  be  pre-eminently  excellent, 
and  at  the  same  time  adhere  to  one  which  we  allow  to 
be  worthless,  vile,  and  ruinous  beyond  expression  ? 
Can  such  conduct  be  deemed  reasonable  ?  No  :  it  is 
the  most  unreasonable,  the  most  inconsistent,  the  most 
preposterous  conduct  of  which  we  can  be  guilty.     To 


388  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SER.  19. 

avoid  such  a  glaring  contradiction ;  to  show  that  our 
resolutions  of  amendment  are  sincere ;  to  prevent  our 
conduct  from  giving  the  lie  to  our  professions,  it  be- 
hoves us  to  repent  immediately.  Jf  we  would  realize 
the  views  of  repentance  which  we  affect  to  entertain  ; 
if  we  would  practically  allow  to  religion  that  high  im- 
portance of  which  we  believe  it  to  be  possessed ;  if  we 
would  manifest  our  convictions  of  the  evil  of  sin  and 
the  beauties  of  holiness  ;  if  we  would  act  agreeably  to 
the  true  spirit  of  any  determinations  we  may  have  made 
to  repent  hereafter,  these  determinations  must  be  in- 
stantly carried  into  effect.  "  Behold,  now  is  the  ac- 
cepted time." 

But  the  same  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from  the 
commandment  of  God  concerning  repentance.  He 
has  commanded  us  to  repent.  He  has  distinctly  and 
peremptorily  commanded  us  to  renounce  our  sins,  and 
to  devote  ourselves  entirely  to  his  will.  Now,  do  we  ac- 
knowledge his  authority  ?  Then  let  his  injunction  be 
obeyed.  But  can  it  be  made  a  question  when  this 
obedience  shall  be  rendered  ?  Can  we  hesitate  as  to 
the  time  when  we  shall  do  what  God  requires  ?  Can 
we  think  of  putting  off  to  some  distant  period  compli- 
ance with  his  express  and  righteous  appointments  ? 
Nothing  surely  can  be  more  unreasonable  and  foolish 
and  sinful  than  this.  If  we  admit  the  authority  of  God 
over  us  to  be  supreme,  and  if  we  are  satisfied  that  he 
has  positively  enjoined  repentance  as  a  necessary  duty, 
we  cannot  discharge  it  too  soon.  To  delay  obedience, 
is  to  dispute  his  right  to  command,  or  to  defy  his  power 
to  punish  ;  and  is  moreover  inconsistent  with  our  own 
supposed  intention  to  repent,  for  we  intend  to  do  this, 
because  the  divine  will  has  declared  it  to  be  necessary 
to  salvation.  The  same  reason  that  wo  have  for  sub- 
mitting to  the  divine  commandment  at  all,  we  have  for 
submitting  to  it  without  delay.  And  he  who  has  just 
impressions  of  the  relation  in  which  he  stands  to  God 
will  hasten  to  keep  his  commandments.  These  com- 
mandments are  as  binding  at  this  moment  as  they  can 


SER.  19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  389 

be  at  any  future  period.  They  have  always  the  sanc- 
tion of  divine  authority.  And  if  it  be  reasonable  to 
yield  to  this  authority,  it  must  be  most  reasonable  to  do 
so,  the  very  first  opportunity  that  we  enjoy.  Why 
should  we  delay  ?  Can  any  thing  come  into  competi- 
tion with  what  we  owe  to  the  great  Ruler  of  all  ?  Can 
any  occupation  be  more  urgent  than  the  service  of  such 
a  great  and  good  Being  ?  Can  any  consideration  justify 
us  in  putting  off  the  adoption  of  those  means  by  which 
it  is  his  will  that  w^e  should  be  saved  ?  When  he  com- 
mands us  to  repent,  he  commands  us  to  forsake  sin, 
which  we  never  should  have  committed  ;  he  commands 
us  to  cultivate  holiness,  from  which  we  ought  never  to 
have  swerved  ;  he  commands  us  to  surrender  ourselves 
entirely  to  him,  to  whom  we  owe  the  most  unreserved 
allegiance,  and  from  obedience  to  whom  we  can  at  no 
period  consider  ourselves  exempted. 

If  then  we  know  any  thing  of  the  nature  of  repent- 
ance— if  we  acquiesce  in  the  change  which  it  implies — 
if  we  have  respect  to  the  commandment  of  God — if  we 
have  acknowledged  the  necessity  of  being  devoted  to  his 
will, — and  if  we  have  even  determined  that,  at  some  time 
or  otlier,  we  shall  return  to  him  in  his  appointed  way, 
let  us  not  act  so  foolishly  and  so  inconsistently  and  so 
arrogantly,  as  to  let  any  business,  any  pleasure,  any 
pretext  whatever,  induce  iis  to  procrastinate  another 
day  or  another  hour.  If  the  thing  is  to  be  done,  no 
time  can  be  so  proper  as  the  present.  And  this  would 
hold  true,  even  though  we  w^ere  assured  of  a  future 
season  for  repentance,  which  we  could  successfully  im- 
prove. Even  in  that  case  it  would  be  most  unreason- 
able to  delay  the  good  work.  Even  in  that  case  it 
might  be  said  to  us  with  justice,  and  should  be  said  to 
us  with  effect,  "  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time ; 
behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  !" 

II.  Repentance  ought  not  to  be  delayed,  because  the 
longer  it  is  delayed,  the  more  painful  and  difficult  will 
the  exercise  of  it  become. 
^33 


390  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SER.  19. 

The  power  of  habit  has  been  universally  felt,  and 
generally  acknowledged.  Thoughts  which  we  have 
long  indulged,  practices  to  which  we  have  been  long 
addicted,  acquire  such  a  seat  in  the  heart  and  charac- 
ter as  to  become,  in  some  measure,  a  part  of  our  sys- 
tem. And  hence  we  generally  hear  habit  spoken  of 
under  the  strong  and  expressive  appellation  of  a  second 
nature.  What  we  are  accustomed  to  do,  even  though 
it  has  been  originally  disagreeable  to  us,  grows  as  nat- 
ural and  easy  as  if  we  had  been  originally  inclined  to 
it;  and  if  it  be  something  to  which  we  are  inherently 
disposed,  frequent  use  gives  it  a  double  hold  on  our 
affections,  and  renders  it  doubly  spontaneous.  Of  the 
truth  of  this,  every  one's  personal  experience,  as  well 
as  his  observation  of  the  conduct  of  others,  must  afford 
the  most  convincing  testimony.  The  fact  may  not  be 
easily  accounted  for,  but  still  it  is  a  fact  invariable  and 
undoubted,  that  habit  is,  in  most  cases,  as  powerful, 
and  in  some  cases,  more  powerful,  than  constitutional 
disposition. 

Consider  this  fact  now,  as  applied  to  those  who  are 
delaying  repentance  to  a  future  occasion.  If  habit, 
simply  considered,  is  powerful,  its  power  must  be  in- 
creased in  proportion  to  the  length  of  time  during  which 
it  is  allowed  to  prevail,  because  its  power  is  acquired  at 
first,  by  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  act  of  which  it 
consists.  The  person,  therefore,  who  resolves  to  re- 
pent hereafter,  is  not  only  careless  of  the  obstacles 
which  habit  lays  in  the  way  of  his  repentance,  at  what- 
ever time  it  may  be  exercised,  but  waits  till  these 
obstacles  are  greatly  multiplied  and  strengthened  ;  and 
as  he  defers  the  work  to  an  opportunity  which  lies 
at  an  indefinite  distance,  he  thereby  runs  the  obvious 
risk  of  having  the  obstacles  to  its  accomplishment  not 
only  multiplied  and  strengthened,  but  perhaps  rendered 
altogether  unsurmountable.  What  folly  !  thus  to  allow 
habit,  which  is  already  felt  to  be  abundantly  strong, 
time  and  means  to  acquire  additional  force.  What 
madness  !  thus  deliberately  to  court  additional  difiicul- 


SER.  19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  391 

ties,  when  those  now  existing  are  so  great  as  hardly  to 
be  overcome,  even  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 
A  tree  which  cumbers  their  ground,  and  which  they 
intend  to  remove,  and  which  they  know  will  require, 
even  at  present,  the  greatest  exertions  to  eradicate, 
they  permit  to  stand  season  after  season,  till  it  strike  a 
deeper  and  yet  a  deeper  root,  and  threaten  to  resist 
their  most  laborious  efforts.  Why  not,  on  every  prin- 
ciple of  wisdom,  begin  the  w^ork  immediately,  and  do  it 
while  it  can  be  done  with  comparative  facility  ? 

But  the  extreme  folly  of  the  conduct  of  those  who 
delay  repentance  appears  farther,  when  we  consider 
the  nature  of  those  habits  which  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  renounce.  These  are  not  habits  to  which  they 
are  naturally  averse,  which  have  been  forced  upon 
them  by  certain  infelicities  of  situation,  and  which  may 
be  got  the  better  of  by  change  of  place  and  external 
circumstances.  They  are  not  habits  which,  if  origi- 
nally unpleasant  to  them,  they  still  in  some  degree  dis- 
like, and  are  anxious  to  subdue.  No  :  were  this  the 
case,  they  would  not  think  of  delaying,  they  would  in- 
stantly cast  them  from  them.  But  the  very  circum- 
stance of  their  delaying,  shows  that  these  habits  are 
highly  agreeable  to  them,  or  that  they  are  deterred 
from  the  attempt  by  the  difficulties  which  it  threatens. 
In  either  case,  the  reason  plainly  is,  that  their  habits 
are  of  a  vicious  kind  :  for  vicious  habits  are  always  the 
most  inveterate.  It  is  much  easier  to  seduce  the  sober 
man  into  intemperance,  than  to  reclaim  the  intemperate 
man  to  sobriety.  And  the  cause  of  this  is  to  be  found 
in  the  depravity  of  human  nature.  This  is  the  original 
source  of  sinful  habits.  It  is  this  which  nourishes  them 
into  form  and  vigor.  It  is  this  which  stimulates  to  the 
continued  indulgence  of  them.  It  is  this  which  makes 
them  pleasing  and  delightful.  It  is  this  which  produces 
a  disinclination  to  throw  them  off,  and  resist  the  efforts 
which  may  be  made  for  their  removal.  And  those 
wicked  habits,  thus  supported  and  cherished  by  the 
natural  corruption  of  the  heart,  operate  with  a  recipro- 


392  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SER.  19. 

cal  influence,  and  give  to  that  corruption  a  greater  ac- 
tivity and  more  certain  efficacy.  The  roots  of  natural 
depravity  and  the  roots  of  evil  habit  are  thus,  as  it 
were,  interwoven  with  each  other — they  cling  to  one 
another  with  close  and  mutual  attachment — and  there- 
fore, to  eradicate  evil  habits  is  like  tearing  the  heart  in 
pieces. 

It  is  true  that  divine  grace  can  subdue  all  opposition, 
and  overcome  the  worst  and  most  inveterate  habits ; 
and,  after  all,  it  is  to  this  grace  you  must  be  indebted 
for  your  repentance  and  conversion  unto  God.  But  it 
is  also  true  that  divine  grace  has  not  promised  to  work 
miracles  in  your  behalf — that  all  those  laws  which  are 
originally  impressed  upon  your  moral  nature  will  be 
more  or  less  respected  by  Him  v*^ho  established  them — 
tliat  he  will  not  deal  with  you  as  mere  passive  machines 
in  whom  there  is  no  will,  no  affections,  no  prejudices, 
no  habits  to  be  conquered  and  restrained  by  ordinary 
means.  The  very  record  which  tells  you  of  the  neces- 
sity and  efficacy  of  grace,  tells  you  at  the  same  time  in 
most  emphatical  language,  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
subduing  evil  habits.  "  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his 
skin  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  Then  may  ye  also  do 
good  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil." 

Be  tau2;ht  then  by  the  united  lesson  of  Scripture  and 
experience  on  the  subject  of  evil  habits,  not  to  delay 
the  work  of  repentance.  As  the  case  stands,  it  will  re- 
quire all  your  efforts,  and  all  your  diligence,  and  all 
your  watchfulness,  to  renounce  the  sinful  pleasures  and 
pursuits  which  have  acquired  an  ascendancy  over  your 
wills.  Do  not  then  increase  the  obstacles  which  lie  in 
the  way  of  this  necessary  change,  by  continuing  any 
longer  in  iniquity.  But  instantly  and  wholly  forsake 
every  one  of  them,  and  return  to  the  ways  of  God  :  for 
"  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time ;  behold,  now  is 
the  day  of  salvation." 

III.  In  the  third  and  last  place,  repentance  should 
not  be  delayed,  because  circumstances  may  occur 
to  render  it  impracticable,  and  consequently  to  secure 
your  ruin. 


SER.  19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  393 

Every  sin  you  commit  renders  you  guilty  before 
God ;  but  when  warned  of  your  guilt,  and  of  the  dan- 
ger that  is  connected  with  it,  you  go  on  to  aggravate 
the  one  and  to  despise  the  other,  you  provoke  God  to 
give  you  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  to  inflict  upon  you 
judicial  blindness,  to  harden  your  heart  as  he  hardened 
the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  thus  to  render  your  impen- 
itence itself  a  part  of  your  punishment.  In  no  case, 
indeed,  can  we  affirm  that  this  certainly  happens :  but 
it  may  happen.  God  may  say  to  you,  though  you  hear 
it  not,  ''  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  you.  I 
withdraw  my  offers  of  mercy  and  salvation  which  you 
have  so  long  and  so  obstinately  rejected.  You  have 
joined  yourselves  to  idols,  and  I  let  you  alone.  Sleep 
on  now,  and  take  your  rest."  And  is  this  a  calamity 
that  you  would  choose  to  risk,  for  the  sake  of  all  that 
the  universe  can  give?  No,  my  friends;  to  be  thus 
sealed  over  to  destruction,  while  yet  the  day  of  grace 
is  shining  to  all  around  you,  is  too  dreadful  to  be  thought 
of  without  feelings  of  terror  and  alarm.  Expose  your- 
selves, therefore,  no  longer  to  the  hazard  of  such  an 
awful  fate  ;  and  let  not  this  consideration  be  forgotten, 
that  the  very  admonition  I  am  now  giving  may,  if  you 
neglect  it,  be  the  last  hnk  in  that  chain  which  is  forever 
to  bind  you  down  to  sin  and  ruin  and  despair. 

But  supposing  that  God  does  not  shut  up  his  mercy, 
but  still  waits  to  be  gracious,  may  you  not  in  the  course 
of  providence  be  placed  in  a  situation  where  there  shall 
be  nothing,  as  there  now  is,  to  suggest,  to  enforce,  or 
to  secure  your  return  to  him.  At  present  you  have  all 
the  means  of  grace  operating  upon  your  minds  to  per- 
suade and  enable  you  to  repent.  But  you  may  not  be 
always  so  highly  favored.  You  may  go  where  religion 
is  neither  practised  nor  believed  ;  where  your  Sabbaths 
shall  be  all  silent — where  no  sanctuary  of  God  shall 
call  you  into  its  hallowed  courts — where  there  shall  be 
no  ministers  of  the  word  of  truth  to  speak  to  you,  either 
its  terrors  or  its  mercies — where  no  friend  shall  be 
found  to  counsel  you  about  the  things  that  belong  to 


394  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SER.  19. 

your  peace — where  you  shall  breathe  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  infidelity  and  profaneness — and  where  every 
thing  shall  conspire  to  repress  every  rising  conviction, 
and  to  encourage  you  in  the  path  of  ungodliness  and 
vice.  And  if  you  repent  not  amidst  all  the  spiritual  ad- 
vantages that  you  now  possess,  what  is  it  that  is  to  make 
you  repent  when  all  these  shall  be  taken  from  you,  and 
you  are  forced,  as  it  were,  to  forget  that  there  is  a  God 
against  whom  you  have  sinned,  and  an  eternity  into 
which  you  must  go  ?  If  you  find  not  your  way  back 
when  the  light  of  ordinances  is  shining  upon  your  path  ; 
what  hope  is  there  of  your  return  when  that  light  shall 
depart,  and  leave  you  to  walk  in  midnight  darkness  ? 
"  Now  is  the  accepted  time ;  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." 

Granting,  however,  that  no  such  change  of  circum- 
stances should  take  place,  the  powder  of  disease  may 
seize  upon  you  and  lay  you  low  on  the  bed  of  languish- 
ing and  pain.  That,  indeed,  you  may  flatter  yourselves, 
will  be  a  fit  occasion — the  very  occasion  which  you  al- 
ways expected  to  come,  and  which  you  always  resolved 
to  improve — for  attending  to  your  spiritual  interests. 
Alas  !  you  know  little  of  the  nature  of  religion  or  of  the 
work  of  repentance,  if  you  think  that  the  time  of  bodily 
distress  is  the  time  for  beginning  to  attend  to  such  mo- 
mentous concerns.  It  is  the  season  for  enjoying  the  con- 
solations of  the  gospel,  and  oh  !  how  sweet  and  cheer- 
ing are  these  to  the  heart  of  the  afflicted  saint ;  but  to 
turn  the  mind,  for  the  first  time,  to  the  work  of  prepar- 
ation for  eternity,  when  the  body  is  overpowered  by 
sickness  or  tossing  in  agony — that  is  a  delusion  into 
which  none  but  the  healthful  and  the  thoughtless  can 
fall.  Go  into  the  chambers  of  disease,  and  this  fancy 
will  delude  you  no  more.  It  is  in  health  that  you  must 
give  yourselves  to  the  faith  and  the  duties  of  Chris- 
tianity :  if  you  wait  till  sickness  comes,  you  may  perhaps 
express  regret,  and  feel  remorse,  and  form  resolutions ; 
but  oh,  there  is  far  more  to  do  than  this ;  and  the  prob- 


SER.   19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  395 

ability  is  that  it  will  never  be  done.  ^'  Sufficient  unto 
that  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  "  Now  is  the  accepted 
time ;  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

And  is  there  not  soundness  of  mind,  which  is  still 
more  necessary  than  health  of  body,  for  attending  to  the 
concerns  of  the  soul ;  but  of  which  you  may  be  deprived 
when  you  are  least  expecting  it.  If  reason  be  lost,  the 
gospel  is  nothing  to  us — wa  have  gone  as  it  were  into 
another  world,  where  the  message  of  salvation  cannot 
reach  us.  And  if  we  have  allowed  the  season  of  im- 
provement to  pass  away  without  having  stamped  upon 
our  character  those  features  of  grace  and  of  holiness 
which  the  eye  of  God  would  have  recognised  amidst  all 
the  ruins  of  our  intellectual  frame,  what  is  there  that  we 
can  plead  when  we  go  from  the  wilderness  of  dreams 
and  fancies,  into  the  realities  of  the  eternal  scene  ?  the 
book  of  life  is  opened  and  our  names  are  not  there.  We 
foolishly  waited  till  the  mind  could  no  longer  lay  hold 
of  an  offered  Saviour.  And  now  reason  may  never 
again  ascend  her  throne,  or  wield  her  sceptre,  or  shed 
her  light  upon  the  shaded  soul.  Intelligence  is  ex- 
tinguished and  consciousness  may  not  return,  till  the 
Judge  of  all  demand  an  account  of  faculties  misapplied 
' — of  opportunities  wasted — of  warnings  and  invitations 
given  to  the  wind — of  folly  infinitely  greater  than  the 
madness,  or  the  fatuity,  in  which  the  taper  of  our  men- 
tal life  is  left  to  expire.  "  Now,  then,  is  the  accepted 
time;  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

But  though  none  of  these  things  should  take  place, 
liable  as  we  are  to  every  one  of  them,  we  know  that  we 
must  die,  and  we  know  not  when  our  death  shall  be. 
"  The  Son  of  man  may  come  on  a  day,  and  at  an  hour, 
that  we  think  not  of."  We  may  be  cut  off  in  the  midst 
of  health,  and  youth,  and  gaiety.  Oh !  are  there  not 
many  instances  on  record — has  not  the  fact  been  brought 
home  to  our  very  doors  and  our  very  hearts — of  men 
and  women,  the  young  as  well  as  the  old — the  strong 
as  well  as  the  feeble — the  sinner  as  well  as  the  samt, — 


396  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  SEE.  19. 

being  cut  off  at  an  unexpected  moment,  and  sent  to  the 
bar  of  judgment,  before  they  had  time  to  cry  for  the 
mercy  they  so  much  needed  ?  What  has  happened  to 
others  may  happen  to  us  :  and  surely  with  such  a  peril 
hanging  over  our  heads,  it  may  well  be  said,  "  Now  is 
the  accepted  time ;  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 

Another  year  has  passed  away ;  and  bequeathed   to 
us  many  a  lesson  and  many  a  warning.*     We  cannot 
think  that  we  shall  all  be  spared  to  the  termination  of 
the  year  on  which  we  have  entered.     Before  that  period 
arrives,  some  of  us  assuredly  shall  have  given  in  an  ac- 
count :  and  which  of  us,  God  only  knows.     It  may  be 
they  who  are  least  expecting,  and  least  prepared   for, 
the  change  :  but  did  I  say  another  year  ?     O  let  us  not 
flatter  ourselves  with  so    long  an   anticipation.      The 
summer's  sun  may  shine  upon  our  tomb.     Our  eyes  may 
even   be  doomed  never  again  to  behold  the  opening 
beauties  of  spring.     The  storm  of  winter  may  yet  howl 
over  our  grave.     Another  year  !  "  Thou  fool,  this  very 
night,  thy  soul  may  be  required  of  thee."    "  Let  us  then 
give  all  diligence  to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure." 
Let  us  delay  no  longer  the  work  of  faith  in  the  Saviour, 
of  repentance  towards  God,  of  preparation  for  an  eternal 
world.  Say  not  "  I  must  finish  this  undertaking  ;  I  must 
enjoy  this  amusement ;  I  must  indulge  myself  for  this 
season :  in   a  litde  time  I  will  attend  to  the  one  thing 
needful."     Oh  !  my  friends,  that  time  may  never  come  : 
and  if  you  reason,  and  feel,  and  act,  in  this  way  it  will 
never  come.     "  Brethren  the  time  is  short :"  life  is  un- 
certain :  eternity  is  impending  and  approaching.  Where- 
fore gird  up  the  loins  of  your  minds  :  be  sober  and  hope 
to  the   end  for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  at  the 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ :  as  obedient  children,  not 
fashioning  yourselves  according  to  the  former  lusts  in 
your  ignorance ;  but  as  He  which  hath  called  you  is 
holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation." 

'^  Preached  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  the  year. 


SER.   19.  THE    ACCEPTED    TIME.  397 

When  you  retire  from  this  place,  allow  not  the  good 
impressions,  which  you  have  received,  to  be  effaced  by 
the  temptations  and  vanities  of  the  world  into  which  you 
again  enter :  but  carry  with  you  the  lesson  of  the  text ; 
and  pray  that  it  may  be  engraven  by  the  divine  Spirit 
on  your  hearts — "  Now  is  the  accepted  time  :  behold, 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 


34 


SERMON     XX. 


VIEWS    OF    DEATH. 


PSALM  civ.  29,  last  clause. 


"  Thou  taJcest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  and  return 
to  their  dust.^^ 

Death,  my  friends,  is  a  subject  to  which  our  attention 
has  been  frequently  directed.  We  have  read  of  it  in 
the  word  of  God ,  every  page  of  the  history  of  the 
world  brings  it  under  our  review ;  and  many  a  time  has 
it  come  home  to  our  observation  and  our  feelings,  in  the 
melancholy  experience  of  our  own  families  and  kindred. 
And  yet  how  feeble  is  the  impression  which  it  has  made 
upon  our  minds,  and  how  limited  the  effect  which  it  has 
produced  upon  our  conduct,  as  beings  who  have  been 
created  at  once  for  time  and  for  eternity  !  We  feel  and 
weep  for  a  little  hour  :  we  talk  sadly  of  the  departure  of 
our  friends  and  our  fellow-creatures  for  a  few  passing 
days  :  we  wear  the  customary  badges  of  mourning  for 
some  weeks ;  and  then  we  forget  it  all,  and  go  on  to 
live  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and   as  if  God  were 

*  Proachod  in  St.  George's  Church,  Edinburgh,  2.3d  November,  1817. 
beins  the  Sabbath  after  the"  funeral  oi'tho  Prlo^-s  Charlotte  of  Wales. 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  399 

never  to  "  take  away  our  breath,  and  we  were  never  to 
die  and  return  to  our  dust."  Alas !  my  friends,  we 
must  acknowledge  that  this  has  been  too  much  the  case 
with  every  one  of  us,  in  the  time  that  is  past.  And  un- 
less we  shall  in  future  think  of  death  much  more  closely 
and  much  more  seriously  than  we  have  hitherto  done, 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that  the  lesson  will  be  equally 
unimpressive  and  unimproved  in  all  the  time  that  is  to 
come ;  and  that  those,  who  are  now  loudest  in  their 
expressions  of  grief,  will  ere  long  be  seen  as  heedless 
of  God  and  a  future  state,  and  as  much  devoted  to  the 
pursuits  and  pleasures  and  vanities  of  a  present  life,  as 
if  this  world  were  the  everlasting  rest  of  man. 

Deprecating  such  an  empty  and  unworthy  result  as 
this  of  the  affecting  dispensations  of  Providence,  and 
anxious  that  you  should  be  led  by  them  to  become  wiser 
and  better,  I  v^^ould  now  submit  to  your  thoughts  some 
particular  and  interesting  views  of  that  solemn  subject 
to  which  the  text  refers.  I  say  particular,  as  well  as 
interesting  views  ;  for  a  great  proportion  of  the  evil  to 
which  I  allude  arises  from  this  circumstance,  that  we 
think  of  death,  when  it  is  presented  to  our  notice, 
vaguely  and  indefinitely.  We  regard  it  too  much  as  a 
general  abstract  truth.  We  do  not  look  at  it  in  those 
individual  and  separate  aspects  which  it  assumes.  And, 
consequently,  our  conceptions  of  it  are  destitute  of  vivid- 
ness and  force,  and  we  see  in  it  nothing  more  than  the 
proof,  and  the  lesson,  of  man's  mortality — a  proof  which 
is  rather  acknowledged  than  felt,  and  a  lesson  which  is 
too  extended  to  be  impressive,  and  is  therefore  learned 
only  to  be  disregarded  or  forgotten.  Let  us,  then,  de- 
vote ourselves  this  day  to  the  contemplation  of  death  in 
a  variety  of  its  characters  and  effects,  and  to  the  con- 
sideration of  those  practical  lessons  which  these  are 
calculated  to  teach  us.  And  may  that  great  Being  who 
"  takes  away  our  breath,  when  we  die  and  return  to  our 
dust,"  enable  us  to  meditate  on  these  things  with  becom- 
ing seriousness,  to  apply  them  impartially  to  our  own 
case,  and  to  derive  from  them  those  advantages,  whether 


400  VIEWS    or    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

of  warning,  of  improvement,  or  of  comfort,  which  they 
are  fitted  to  afford. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  we  observe  that  death  disor- 
ganizes and  destroys  our  corporeal  frame.  This  is  a 
part  of  the  subject  on  which  it  would  be  painful  to 
dwell.  The  words  of  the  text  are  distinguished  by  a 
combination  of  delicacy  and  emphasis ;  for  they  tell  us 
that  when  God  "  takes  away  our  breath,  we  die  and  re- 
turn to  our  dust."  They  describe  not  tlie  intermediate 
and  humbling  process  which  our  bodies  undergo,  before 
they  dissolve  into  their  primary  elements.  They  merely 
announce  the  execution  of  the  original  sentence,  "  Dust 
thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return."  Yes,  my 
friends,  this  is  the  end  of  all  flesh.  You  see  man 
walking  in  the  majesty  of  strength,  or  in  all  the  charms 
of  gracefulness  and  beauty  ;  you  see  the  cheek  blooming 
with  health,  and  the  eye  beaming  with  intelligence,  and 
altogether  you  might  suppose  him  a  god  in  this  lower 
world,  incapable  of  decay  and  dissolution.  Look  again, 
and  God  has  taken  away  his  breath ; — and  strength  and 
beauty  and  intelligence  are  gone,  and  a  cold,  pale,  life- 
less corpse,  is  all  that  remains.  Look  yet  again  when 
a  few  years  have  elapsed,  and  behold  his  very  bones 
are  consumed,  and  you  cannot  distinguish  him  from  the 
earth  in  which  he  was  laid,  and  you  cannot  even  tell 
that  it  was  a  human  being  whose  remains  you  are  con- 
templating. O  this  is  the  fate  of  all  the  children  of 
mortality.  The  fairest  form  that  ever  kindled  admira- 
tion in  the  eye  of  man,  or  made  his  heart  beat  and 
melt  with  love — the  most  stately  and  vigorous  and  god- 
like frame  that  ever  wielded  the  instruments  of  batde, 
or  attracted  the  gaze  of  a  multitude, — must  cease  to  be 
beautiful  or  strong,  and  lie  down  in  the  grave,  and  say 
to  corruption,  "  Thou  art  my  father,  and  to  the  worm, 
thou  art  my  mother  and  my  sister  !"  What  a  lesson  of 
humility  and  abasement  does  this  consideration  teach 
us  !  How  foolish,  with  such  a  prospect  before  us,  to 
cherish  one  feeling  of  vanity  or  pride  !  How  incon- 
sistent widi   our  known   destiny  to  live  as  if  we  were 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  401 

ethereal  beings,  and  our  very  bodies  were  lo  be  immor- 
tal !  O  young  man,  why  boast  thyself  in  a  robust  con- 
stitution and  an  athletic  form,  why  so  anxious  to  pam- 
per its  appetites  and  minister  to  its  gratification,  since 
disease  may  deprive  thee  of  all  thy  strength,  and  death 
will  certainly  bring  thee  to  weakness  and  to  dust.  O, 
young  woman,  why  count  upon  thy  personal  charms, 
since  death  will  soon  "  consume  thy  beauty  like  a 
moth,"  and  why  so  careful  to  adorn  thy  fair  but  fading 
tabernacle,  which  must  ere  long  be  shrouded  from  the 
eye  of  those  who  now  admire  and  love  thee,  and  be 
laid  in  the  cold  darksome  grave,  and  moulder  away  un- 
heeded into  its  kindred  earth  ?  But  while  death  thus 
teaches  us  to  be  humble,  as  to  all  that  is  connected 
with  our  mortal  part,  it,  with  no  less  emphasis,  directs 
us  to  the  care  of  our  imperishable  souls.  Our  souls 
surviving  the  dissolution  and  corruption  of  the  body, 
and  designed  for  an  eternal  existence,  rightfully  demand 
that  care  which  corresponds  with  their  spiritual  nature, 
and  has  a  tendency  to  fit  them  for  their  future  destiny. 
Death  sends  the  body  to  the  dust  from  which  it  was 
taken,  but  the  spirit  unto  God  who  gave  it ;  and  that 
spirit  must  be  prepared  for  appearing  before  him,  by 
being  clothed  in  the  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  adorned  with  the  graces  of  Christianity.  O  then 
let  us  look  beyond  the  comfort,  and  indulgence,  and 
well-being  of  our  frail  and  fading  tenement  of  flesh  and 
blood,  and  devote  our  chief  attention  to  the  health  and 
improvement  of  the  soul  which  inhabits  it,  so  that  when 
death  comes  we  may  resign  ourselves  to  the  dust,  in 
the  expectation  of  a  blessed  immortality.  Nor  are  we 
left  without  hope  even  as  to  the  body.  It  must,  indeed, 
become  the  prey  of  worms  and  corruption.  But  it  is 
"sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption,"  which  draweth 
nigh.  The  Son  of  Man,  when  he  comes  the  second 
time,  shall  call  it  forth  to  the  resurrection  of  life.  He 
shall  glorify  it  by  making  it  "  like  unto  his  own  glorious 
body,"  and  "  this  corruptible  having  put  on  incorrup- 
*34 


402  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

tion,  and  this  mortal  having  put  on  immortality,  death 
shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory." 

II.  In  the  second  place,  Death  puts  an  end  to  all 
worldly  distinctions.  When  we  look  around  us  in  so- 
ciety, we  see  these  distinctions  universally  prevailing. 
Some  abound  in  riches  and  others  are  sunk  in  poverty. 
Some  are  destined  to  fill  exalted  stations,  and  others 
dwell  in  perpetual  obscurity.  Some  are  appointed  to 
command,  and  others  to  obey.  Some  are  adorned 
with  titles  and  with  honors,  and  others  are  born  to 
the  simplicity  of  inferior  rank,  and  are  never  per- 
mitted to  rise  above  the  level  on  which  they  drew 
their  first  breath. 

This  variety  of  external  condition  is  neither  to  be 
ridiculed  nor  condemned.  It  arises  from  the  very  con- 
stitution of  human  nature,  and  from  the  circumstances 
in  which  mankind  are  placed  ;  and  they  who  would 
violently  attempt  to  destroy  it,  are  regardless  equally  of 
the  arrangements  of  divine  providence,  and  of  the  pros- 
perity and  happiness  of  the  social  state. 

But  though,  in  itself,  it  seems  to  be  both  necessary 
and  expedient,  it  too  often  engenders  sentiments  and 
conduct  to  which  the  whole  spirit  of  Christianity  stands 
opposed.  We  observe  it,  on  the  one  hand,  giving  birth 
to  pride,  contempt,  and  oppression  in  those  who  occu- 
py the  elevated  ranks  of  life.  We  observe  it,  on  the 
other  hand,  producing  impatience,  discontent,  and  re- 
bellion among  those  who  move  in  a  lower  sphere,  and 
sometimes  it  occasions  such  animosities  and  crimes  as 
tempt  the  philanthropist  to  forget  his  more  enlightened 
principles,  and  to  regret  the  existence  of  that  adventi- 
tious superiority  of  one  over  another  in  which  they  all 
seem  to  originate. 

Now  there  are  many  considerations  which  should 
operate  in  preventing  or  in  curing  these  evils.  There  is 
a  reference  to  the  appointment  and  administration  of  an 
infinitely  wise  God.  There  is  the  suitableness  of  the 
existing  system  of  things  to  the  existing  state  of  man. 
There  is  the  evident  influence  which  it  has  in  exciting 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  403 

industry,  in  calling  forth  virtues  that  would  be  otherwise 
dormant,  and  in  promoting  the  general  good.  These 
views  should  all  conspire  not  only  to  reconcile  us  to 
those  worldly  distinctions  which  prevail  in  society,  but 
to  lead  us  to  cultivate  the  temper,  and  maintain  the 
character,  which  they  severally  require. 

But  the  most  powerful  and  efficient  correction  of  all, 
is  the  anticipation  of  death.  When  God  "takes  away 
our  breath,"  every  difference  of  outward  condition  is 
removed,  and  all  the  circumstances  which  separated 
one  man,  or  one  class  of  men,  from  another,  are  melt- 
ed down  into  vanity  and  nothing.  Look  into  the  grave, 
and  see  how  all  shadow  of  distinction  is  lost  for  ever. 
The  great  and  the  small  are  there.  And  O  why  should 
the  high  be  proud  and  contemptuous ;  and  why  should 
the  low  murmur  and  repine,  when  they  shall  all  lie 
down  alike  in  the  dust  and  the  worms  shall  cover  them  ? 

Yes,  my  friends,  all  earthly  distinctions  are  destroyed 
at  death.  Sometimes,  indeed,  they  may  appear  to  re- 
main. One  man  is  honored  with  a  splendid  and  im- 
posing burial.  Another  has  a  blazoned  monument 
erected  over  him.  A  third  may  have  historians  to  re- 
cord his  name,  and  poets  to  sing  his  praise.  And  in 
contrast  to  all  these,  a  fourth  may  be  laid  in  the  base 
earth,  and  have  not  even  a  stone  to  tell  where  he  lies, 
and  fade  from  the  remembrance,  almost  as  soon  as  he 
passes  from  the  sight  of  that  world,  in  which  he  did  litde 
more  than  toil,  and  weep,  and  suffer.  But  let  your  eye 
penetrate  through  those  showy  and  unsubstantial  forms 
which  custom,  or  affection,  or  vanity  has  thrown  over 
the  graves  of  departed  mortals,  and  behold  how  the 
mightiest  and  the  meanest  lie  side  by  side  in  one  com- 
mon undistinguished  ruin.  Striking  is  the  fact,  and  nu- 
merous are  its  proofs.  Every  day  that  passes  over  you, 
and  every  funeral  that  you  attend,  and  every  church 
vard  that  you  visit,  give  you  the  affecting  demonstration. 
And  sometimes  God  in  his  judgment,  or  in  his  mercy, 
s^ds  a  proof  of  it  which  knocks  loudly  at  the  door  of 
every  heart,  and  sets  a  broad  and  a  lasting  seal  upon 


404  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

the  humbling  truth.  This  proof  he  has  lately  sent  us 
in  the  most  solemn  and  pathetic  form  which  it  could 
possibly  assume.  There  was  one  who  had  all  that 
earthly  greatness  can  confer;  who  filled  one  of  the 
most  elevated  and  conspicuous  stations  to  which  mor- 
tals are  ever  born  ;  who  had  all  of  personal  dignity,  and 
accomplishment,  and  honor,  that  this  world  could 
afford  ;  and  who,  as  her  best  and  highest  distinction, 
sat  enthroned  in  the  heart  of  her  country  as  their  ad- 
miration and  their  hope.  Such  she  was ;  but  it  pleased 
God,  whose  creature  and  whose  child  she  was,  to  assert 
his  own  sovereignty,  and  to  illustrate  the  emptiness  of  all 
terrestrial  grandeur,  by  taking  away  her  breath,  and  she 
died,  and  is  returning  to  her  dust.  And  what,  think 
you,  my  friends,  are  the  distinctions  in  which  she  is 
now  rejoicing  ?  Not  in  those  with  which  she  was  sur- 
rounded and  adorned  on  earth  ;  these  have  lost  all  their 
importance  and  all  their  charms,  and  even  that  univer- 
sal and  affectionate  respect  in  which  she  was  held,  ap- 
pears to  her  now  a  very  little  thing.  But  there  are  dis- 
tinctions which  death  cannot  touch,  and  which  are  now, 
we  trust,  the  glory  and  the  joy  of  her  departed  spirit. 
To  her,  we  trust,  it  is  now  given  to  rejoice,  that  in  the 
high  places  of  this  wilderness,  she  was  enabled,  by  divine 
grace,  to  confide  in  the  mercy  of  her  God  and  in  the 
merits  of  her  Redeemer ;  that  she  paid  a  practical 
regard  to  the  exercises  of  devotion  ;  that  she  rever- 
enced the  Lord's  day  ;  that  she  performed  her  relative 
duties  with  affection  and  fidelity  ;  that  she  set  an  ex- 
ample of  piety  and  virtue,  amidst  strong  temptation  and 
abounding  iniquity ;  and  that  with  the  splendid  pros- 
pects of  an  earthly  crown,  she  did  not  forget  her 
heavenly  hopes,  but  aspired  after  that  crown  ol^  right- 
eousness and  glory  which  fadeth  not  away. 

Receive  then,  my  friends,  and  practise  the  lesson 
which  all  this  inculcates.  It  speaks  to  you  who  occupy 
distinguished  situations  in  the  world  ;  and  it  says,  be- 
hold the  nodiingness  of  earthly  grandeur,  and  power, 
and  riches.     Use  them  as  not  abusing  them,  knowing 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  405 

that  their  fashion  soon  passeth  away.  Though  elevated 
in  station,  be  humble  in  spirit.  Let  no  contemptuous 
feehng  be  cherished,  and  no  harsh  conduct  be  practised 
towards  those  who  are  below  you.  Employ  your  influ- 
ence and  authority,  not  in  oppressing  innocence,  but  in 
checking  guilt,  and  injustice,  and  cruelty.  And  when- 
ever you  feel  tempted  to  abuse  the  advantages  of  your 
condition,  look  into  the  grave,  and  see  the  level  to 
which  you  must  come  at  last ;  and  look  beyond  the 
grave,  that  in  the  immortality  into  which  death  intro- 
duces the  saints  of  God,  you  may  see  the  distinction  to 
which  it  is  your  highest  honor  to  aspire,  and  which  it 
will  be  your  highest  happiness  to  attain.  The  same 
fact  speaks  to  you  who  are  moving  in  the  humble  walks 
of  hfe ;  to  you  it  says.  Why  repine  that  you  are  not  in- 
vested with  the  insignia  of  worldly  greatness,  that  you 
are  not  favored  with  wealth,  that  you  have  not  been 
born  or  raised  to  stations  from  which  you  might  look 
down  on  your  fellow-men  ?  why  repine  that  these  dis- 
tinctions are  not  yours,  since  the  time  is  fast  approach- 
ing when  you  shall  return  to  your  dust,  and  they  shall 
be  as  if  they  had  never  been  ?  Envy  not  such  fleeting 
possessions — scowl  not  on  those  to  whom  they  belong 
— "give  honor  to  whom  honoris  due" — "  be  contented 
with  such  things  as  ye  have" — and  seek  to  obtain  those 
distinctions  of  principle  and  of  character  which  are 
within  your  reach,  which  elevate  you  in  the  sight  of 
God,  which  perish  not  in  the  grave,  and  which  shall 
pass  with  you  into  the  inheritance  that  is  on  high,  and 
that  lasts  forever. 

III.  In  the  third  place,  death  terminates  all  labor  and 
all  pleasure  under  the  sun. 

What  a  scene  of  activity  and  toil  does  this  world  pre- 
sent to  us  !  From  inclination  or  necessity  all  are  busily 
engaged.  Some  are  gaining  their  daily  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  their  brow.  Others  are  seeking  for  wealth 
in  the  higher  walks  of  speculation  and  industry.  And 
some  are  searching  for  more  enlarged  information,  or 
studying  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge, 


406  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

by  exertions  both  of  mind  and  body.  Every  one  has 
some  object  of  ambition,  and  every  one  is  pursuing  it 
with  ardor  and  hope.  Such  is  the  aspect  which  society 
presents  to  us.  But  death  interposes  ;  and  the  arm  of 
dihgence  is  arrested,  and  the  occupation  of  hfe  is  gone 
forever.  Only  anticipate  the  conclusion  of  a  few  years, 
and  all  the  frail  mortals,  who  now  employ  themselves 
in  the  active  scenes  of  this  world,  shall  have  died  and 
returned  to  their  dust.  God  shall  take  away  their 
breath,  one  by  one,  till  each  and  all  of  them  shall  have 
sunk  into  the  place  of  silence  and  of  rest.  Now,  is  our 
labor  pleasant  ?  Let  us  then  apply  to  it  the  hand  of 
diligence.  Let  us,  if  possible,  increase  in  it  more  and 
more ;  let  us  engage  in  it  for  a  useful,  honorable,  legit- 
imate object;  and  let  us  be  stimulated  to  the  persever- 
ing pursuit,  by  the  consideration  that  we  must,  sooner 
or  later,  submit  to  the  paralysing  stroke  of  death;  and 
that  it  will  be  our  shame  and  our  condemnation,  to  be 
found  standing  idle,  or  acting  with  but  partial  earnest- 
ness, when  we  had  such  a  prospect  before  us  ?  On  the 
other  hand,  are  our  labors  painful  ?  From  age,  or  from 
infirmity,  or  from  any  other  cause,  is  industry  a  burden 
which  we  can  neither  easily  bear,  nor  afford  to  throw 
away  ?  And  are  our  spirits  ready  to  sink  under  the 
hard  alternative  ?  Let  us  be  patient,  and  let  us  still 
endeavor  to  perform  our  duty.  Our  hardships  will  not 
always  last.  Death  will  come  to  our  relief.  The  grave 
shall  ^  open  its  peaceful  bosom  to  receive  us.  And, 
sleeping  in  the  dust,  we  shall  forget  alike  our  sorrows 
and  our  toils. 

But  there  is  a  work  far  more  important  than  the  or- 
dinary labors  and  business  of  the  world,  which  death 
must  also  terminate.  I  mean  the  work  of  salvation  and 
of  rigliteousness.  While  we  live,  we  have  means  and 
opportunities  for  carrying  on  that  work.  But  the  mo- 
ment that  God  "  takes  away  our  breath,"  we  can  advance 
in  it  no  farther  ;  we  can  labor  in  it  no  more.  *'  There  is 
no  work,  nor  wisdom,  nor  device,  in  the  grave ;"  and 
"  as  the  tree  falleth,  so  must  it  lie."    What  a  solemn 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  407 

warning  does  this  afford  to  us,  against  sloth  and  inactivity 
in  the  business  of  preparation  for  an  eternal  world  ?  How 
loudly  does  it  call  upon  us,  and  how  effectually  should  it 
prevail  with  us  to  work  that  momentous  work  while  it  is 
day  !  Be  persuaded,  my  friends,  to  apply  yourselves 
cordially  to  the  faith  and  obedience  of  the  gospel.  Let 
every  duty  be  faithfully  discharged.  In  all  your  differ- 
ent relations,  and  in  all  your  various  circumstances,  let 
it  be  your  ambition,  and  your  endeavor,  to  do  the  will 
of  God.  Let  no  good  action  be  unnecessarily  delayed, 
or  carelessly  performed.  If  there  be  any  act  of  justice 
due  from  you  to  any  of  your  fellow-men  ;  if  there  be 
any  poor  and  afflicted  ones  who  need  the  consolation 
and  the  aid  which  you  can  give ;  if  you  have  repara- 
tion to  make  for  wrongs  that  you  have  done,  or  forgive- 
ness to  bestow  for  injuries  you  have  received  ;  if  you 
have  it  in  your  power  to  assist  in  instructing  the  igno- 
rant, in  reclaiming  the  wanderer,  or  in  spreading  the 
knowledge  of  the  Saviour's  name  ;  if  you  have  any  ob- 
ligations to  fulfil — any  omissions  to  supply — any  oppor- 
tunities of  usefulness,  or  of  kindness  to  improve,  as 
parents  and  as  children,  as  husbands  and  as  wives,  as 
masters  and  as  servants,  as  neighbors  and  as  friends  ; 
if  there  be  any  evil  habit  you  have  to  subdue,  or  any 
good  habit  you  have  to  acquire  or  to  strengthen — any 
one  thing  to  do  in  any  one  department  of  Christian 
duty,  we  exhort  and  entreat  you  to  do  it  while  it  is 
called  to-day,  for  the  period  will  soon  come,  and  it 
may  come  sooner  than  you  think,  when  God  shall 
"take  away  your  breath,  and  you  shall  die,  and  return 
to  your  dust." 

And  to  those  who  are  lovers  of  pleasure,  how  alarm- 
ing is  the  language  of  the  text.  Whether  they  be  ad- 
dicted to  indulgences  criminal  in  themselves,  or  abuse 
by  excess  the  blessings  of  providence,  or  partake  of 
lawful  gratifications  with  an  eagerness  and  a  relish  which 
they  feel  not  in  the  exercises  of  religion — in  all  these 
cases,  it  is  useful  to  remind  them,  that  not  one  of  the 
objects  on  which  they  lavish  their  affections,  can  they 


408  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

carry  with  them  beyond  the  grave,  but  that,  when  God 
"takes  away  their  breath,"  their  sensual  and  worldly 
enjoyments  come  to  a  perpetual  end.  Ye  who  love 
pleasure  more  than  God,  can  you  beheve  this,  and  yet 
persevere  in  your  vain  and  wicked  course  ?  Are  your 
favorite  pursuits  to  terminate  at  death,  and  will  you  still 
apply  to  them  as  the  chief  sources  of  your  happiness  ? 
Is  the  grave  to  arrest  the  current  of  your  joy,  and  will 
you  limit  your  ambition  there,  and  seek  and  prepare  for 
no  good  beyond  it?  O  do  not  thus  brave  the  terrors  of 
the  last  enemy — do  not  thus  reject  the  warning  lesson 
that  he  gives  you  ;  do  not  thus  cast  from  you,  and  tram- 
ple upon,  the  wisdom  which  God  inculcates,  when  he 
declares,  in  his  word,  and  by  his  providence,  that  he 
will  "  take  away  your  breath."  Rather  let  every  in- 
stance of  mortality  awaken  you  to  serious  thought — 
teach  you  to  number  your  days,  and  to  improve  them — 
induce  you  to  enter  into  the  ways  of  holiness  and  of  life 
— and  convert  you,  who  are  "  lovers  of  pleasures,"  into 
"lovers  of  God."  And  let  this  be  the  effect  of  the  dis- 
pensation which  we  now  deplore.  She  who  has  left  an 
empire  to  mourn  her  departure,  calls  upon  you,  by  her 
death,  and  by  her  high  example,  to  renounce  a  world 
of  vanity  and  of  sin,  and  to  give  your  heart  to  that  good 
Being,  who  alone  can  make  you  truly  and  forever 
happy.  If  she  call  upon  you  in  vain,  then,  I  say,  weep 
not  for  her,  but  weep  for  yourselves.  In  spite  of  many 
allurements,  and  many  disadvantages,  she  lived  a  pattern 
of  domestic  sobriety,  and  virtuous  abstraction  from  the 
world.  And  she  died,  by  the  inscrutable  will  of  God, 
that  her  pattern  might  be  stamped  upon  your  hearts,  and 
that  you  might  show  your  submission  to  the  divine  pur- 
pose, and  your  admiration  of  departed  worth,  by  imitating 
the  excellence  which  she  displayed. 

IV.  In  the  fourth  place,  death  dissolves  the  dearest 
and  tenderest  ties.  And  this  is  one  of  its  most  gloomy 
and  forbidding  features.  Take  from  me  the  wealth, 
the  luxuries,  and  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life — divest 
me  of  every  honor  to  which  I  have  been  raised,  and  of 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF   DEATH.  409 

all  the  influence  which  station,  and  power,  and  opulence 
have  given  rae — deprive  me  even  of  my  good  name, 
which  is  better  than  riches,  and  all  that  riches  can  com- 
mand— do  this,  but  leave  me  the  friends  that  are  dear  to 
my  soul,  and  I  am  comforted  ;  for  their  presence  and 
affection  will  compensate  for  any  loss ;  and  though  they 
cannot  rejoice  with  me,  as  I  do  not  rejoice,  they  will 
yet  weep  with  me  when  I  weep.  But  when  these  "  die, 
and  return  to  their  dust,"  I  am  left  poor,  and  sad,  and 
disconsolate  indeed.  Every  tie  which  is  broken  by 
their  removal,  inflicts  an  anguish  on  the  heart,  which 
none  but  they  who  have  experienced  it  can  adequately 
conceive,  and  casts  a  shade  over  the  path  of  life,  which 
its  brightest  hours  can  with  difficulty  chase  away.  O,  it 
is  easy  for  those  who  have  never  felt  it,  to  talk  pathet- 
ically on  this  mournful  subject.  But  you  alone,  my 
friends,  who  have  watched  the  deathbed  of  a  venerated 
parent,  or  a  beloved  child,  of  the  partner  of  your  bosom, 
or  the  sifter,  or  the  brother,  or  the  friend  of  your  heart 
— you  alone  can  tell,  that  there  is  no  sorrow  like  to  that 
which  you  feel,  when  God  "  takes  away  the  breath,"  of 
those  whom  you  fondly  love,  and  with  whose  existence 
your  own  seemed  inseparably  entwined.  Under  the 
pressure  of  this  sorrow,  when  we  have  just  listened  to  the 
parting  breath,  and  said  the  long  farewell,  and  closed  the 
beamless  eye — when  all  that  we  admired  of  talent,  and 
all  that  we  loved  of  virtue,  is  fled,  and  the  object  of  our 
deepest  and  tenderest  attachment "  returns  to  the  dust," 
how  apt  are  we  to  think  that  death  is  but  sporting  with 
our  happiness,  and  to  feel  as  if  we  were  abandoned  to 
darkness  and  despair. 

Yet  death,  when  it  is  dissolving  those  close  and  ten- 
der ties  which  link  us  to  one  another,  is  at  once  teaching 
us  wisdom,  and  directing  us  to  comfort. 

It  teaches  us  wisdom,  by  showing  us  the  perishable 
nature  of  human  friendships,  and  leading  us  to  take  a 
looser  hold,  than  we  might  otherwise  do,  of  creatures 
who  must  soon "  die  and  return  to  their  dust."  It 
should  not,  indeed,  prevent  us  from  forming  such  attach- 
35 


410  VIEWS    OF   DEATH.  SER.  20. 

ments,  and  from  cultivating  them  with  ardor,  and  from 
giving  full  scope  to  all  the  affections  of  kindred,  and  all 
the  endearments  of  domestic  life.  But  it  should  mod- 
erate the  eagerness  and  the  dehght  with  which  every 
susceptible  mind  is  apt  to  enter  into  these  relations, 
and  to  indulge  in  these  pure  and  kindly  enjoyments.  It 
should  induce  us  to  associate  with  those  who  are  dear- 
est to  us,  under  the  softening  impression  that  God  may 
soon,  or  suddenly,  "  take  away  their  breath."  And  it 
should  constrain  us  to  devote  the  best  and  highest  of 
our  regards  to  Him,  by  whom  our  friends  are  given  to 
us,  in  whom  infinite  excellence  resides,  and  from  whose 
love  neither  life  nor  death  can  ever  separate  us,  if  we 
are  his  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 

But  death,  in  this  view,  not  only  teaches  ns  wisdom, 
it  also  directs  us  to  comfort.  Death  takes  away  our 
friends  and  lays  them  in  the  dust,  and  they  shall  return 
to  us  no  more.  But  if  they  have  been  worthy  of  the 
love  we  have  felt  for  them — if  they  have  been  walking 
in  the  ways  of  God,  and  are  meet  for  that  "  new  heaven 
and  new  earth  in  which  dwelleth  righteousness,"  we  have 
good  hope,  through  grace,  that  it  is  now  well  with  them 
for  eternity.  They  have  gone  to  ''  their  Father  and  to 
our  Father,  to  their  God  and  to  our  God."  They  are 
where  our  affection,  when  purified  from  all  the  weakness 
and  selfishness  of  humanity,  would  desire  them  to  be, — 
in  a  world  where  they  will  sin  and  sorrow  no  more — 
where  all  their  virtues  in  which  we  delighted  shall  be 
matured  and  perfected — where  all  their  views  of  creation 
which  we  assisted  in  forming  shall  be  brightened  and 
enlarged — where  all  their  hopes  in  which  we  participated 
shall  be  fully  realized — where  all  their  holy  joys  in 
which  we  indulged,  along  with  them,  shall  become  ex- 
quisite, unmingled,  and  permanent ;  and  from  whose 
delightful  and  everlasting  mansions,  where  we  expect 
to  join  them,  they  shall  go  out  no  more  forever.  O  my 
friends,  is  it  not  consolatory  to  think  that  death  is  not  an 
eternal  sleep — that  death  shall  not  have  eternal  dominion 
over  those  whose  departure  we  bewail — that  their  spirits 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  411 

wing  their  way  to  the  paradise  above — that  their  bodies 
have  a  glorious  resurrection  awaiting  them — and  that 
he  whom  we  dread  as  the  spoiler  of  our  friendships  and 
our  loves,  is  but  the  messenger  who  conveys  our  pious 
relatives  to  the  realms  of  bliss  and  glory  unspeakable. 
And  while  such  views  are  consolatory,  is  not  the  com- 
fort rendered  sweeter  when  we  are  also  taught  to  be 
"  followers  of  them,  who  through  faith  and  patience,  are 
inheriting  the  promises,"  and  to  labor  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  those  whom  death  may  snatch  from  our  em- 
braces ?  If  death  afflict  us  by  separating  from  us  our 
dearest  and  most  valued  connexions,  how  anxious  should 
we  be  that  they  may  live  here  as  "  the  children  of  the 
resurrection"  and  the  heirs  of  inimortality,  and  that  we 
ourselves  may  not,  by  our  carelessness,  or  our  impeni- 
tence, or  our  unbelief,  be  cast  out,  while  they  are  ad- 
mitted into  the  kingdom  of  their  God  and  Saviour.  Let 
this  thought  rouse  us  to  activity  and  diligence  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  to  personal  godliness  and  fidelity, 
and  to  a  benevolent  concern  for  the  interests  of  the 
friends  whom  we  should  mourn  to  lose  by  death,  and 
rejoice  to  meet  again  when  "  death  shall  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory." 

V.  In  the  fifth  place,  death  blasts  the  fairest  pros- 
pects of  individuals,  of  families,  and  of  nations. 

We  are  naturally  disposed  to  speculate  on  the  future, 
to  lay  plans  of  improvement  and  aggrandisement ;  and, 
w^iether  from  reasoning  on  supposed  probabilities,  or 
from  giving  the  rein  to  imagination,  to  anticipate  great 
prosperity  for  ourselves,  our  friends,  or  our  country. 
And  it  is  not  the  will  of  God  that  we  should  be  always 
disappointed.  Sometimes,  however,  he  is  pleased  to 
frustrate  our  surest  and  our  fondest  expectations ;  and 
one  of  the  instruments  by  which  he  accomplishes  his 
object  is  death.  Death  cuts  off  an  individual ;  and  all 
his  schemes  and  hopes  and  achievements  perish  with 
him  in  the  dust.  Or  he  removes  the  head  of  a  family  ; 
and  the  children  are  scattererd,  and  their  patrimony  is 
lost,  and  instead  of  dwelling  in  opulence  or  comfort,  they 


412  VIEWS    OF   DEATH.  SER.  20. 

are  cast  upon  the  mercy  of  an  ungenerous  world.     Or 
he  strikes  down  the  ruler  of  a  vast  empire,  whose  wis- 
dom and  influence  and  activity  formed  the  safeguard  of 
his  dominions,  and  whose  decease  is  a  signal  for  internal 
feuds  and  foreign  war.     In  our  own  recent  experience, 
my  friends,  we  have  had  a   melancholy  instance  of  the 
havoc  which  death  sometimes  makes  in  the  prospects  of 
man.     It  is  not  a  single  disaster  that  has  befallen  us,  but 
a  combination  of  disasters.     And  their  intrinsic  magni- 
tude is  deeply  aggravated  by  the  consideration  that  they 
are  irremediable.     Our  beloved  Princess,  as   an  indi- 
vidual, had  every  reason  to  look  forward  to  a  length  of 
happy  days,  she  was  in  the  possession  of  many  blessings 
which  she  prized,  and  she  anticipated  many  more  v/hich 
it  only  required  time  and  opportunity  to  provide ;  but 
God  "  took  away  her  breath,"  and  all  these  visions  of 
bliss  have  vanished  like  the  morning  cloud.     In  her  do- 
mestic capacity  she  was  equally  affectionate  and  beloved, 
and  there  was  all  the  prospect  that  could  be  desired 
of  increasing  comfort  and  lasting  endearment ;  but  she 
died  in  an  unexpected  moment,  and  she  has  left  the 
object  of  her  best  attachment  a  solitary  and  disconsolate 
mourner.     And  with  regard  to  her  connexion  with  the 
nation  and  with  the  crown,  what  could  we  have  wished 
for  more,  than  the  talent  with  which  she  was  endowed, 
and  the  spirit  that  animated  her  heart,  and  the  virtues 
that  adorned  her  life,  and  the  prospect  which  she  afforded 
of  giving  birth  to  a  line  of  princes,  who,  inheriting  her 
excellence    and   following   her    example,    might  have 
reigned  mercifully  and  gloriously  over  these  happy  lands  ? 
But  she  has  departed,  and  all  our  hopes  are  buried  in 
her  tomb.     Great  reason  have  we,  my  friends,  to  con- 
template all  this  with  emotions  of  the  profoundest  sor- 
row.    But  though  death  be  a  cruel  and  relentless  spoiler, 
he  is  a  messenger  of  the  infinitely  wise  and  good  God  ; 
and  here  he  brings  with  him  a  lesson  which   it  becomes 
us  to  learn  and  to  practice.     He  teaches  us  to  put  no 
confidence  in  our  own  life,  or  in  that  of  any  of  the  sons 
or  daughters  of  men.     He  teaches  us  to  recollect  how 


SER.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  413 

feeble  are  all  our  efforts,  and  how  short-sighted  are  all 
our  best  laid  schemes,  and  how  perishable  are  all  our 
most  sanguine  hopes.  He  teaches  us  to  remember  that 
man,  even  in  the  height  of  his  prosperity,  and  in  the  ze- 
nith of  his  power,  is  but  a  mortal  whose  "  breath  is  in  his 
nostrils,"  and  whose  "  days  are  but  a  span."  He 
teaches  us  to  look  up  to  God  as  the  "  disposer  of  our 
lot,"  as  the  "  governor  among  the  nations,"  as  that  Being 
on  whose  determination  every  event,  whether  public  or 
private,  necessarily  depends.  And  he  teaches  us,  in 
characters  written,  as  it  were,  in  the  dust  by  dead  men's 
bones,  that  we  have  no  security  for  our  happiness,  but 
trust  in  his  ail-wise  and  righteous  administration,  and 
that  we  can  have  no  comfort  under  the  anguish  of  dis- 
appointed hope,  which  does  not  flow  from  the  belief  of 
his  superintending  providence,  and  from  the  hope  of  en- 
tering into  that  unsuffering  kingdom,  where  none  shall 
ever  again  taste  of  fleath,  and  where  no  scene  of  enjoy- 
ment shall  be  overshadowed  by  its  dark  approach.  "  O 
that  we  were  wise  and  understood  these  things,"  and 
that  the  Almighty,  when  he  sends  death  to  wither  our 
expectations,  and  lay  them  prostrate  in  the  dust,  would 
enable  us  by  his  spirit  to  "  be  still  and  to  know  that  he  is 
God." 

VI.  In  the  last  place,  death  introduces  us  to  judgment 
and  to  eternity.  This  is  the  most  important  view  which 
we  can  take  of  it.  To  regard  it  as  dissolving  our  con- 
nexion with  time — as  destroying  the  link  between  our 
bodies  and  our  spirits — as  putting  a  period  to  the  pur- 
suits and  pleasures  in  which  we  take  so  deep  an  interest 
— as  levelling  all  earthly  distinctions — as  severing  the 
most  tender  ties — as  blasting  the  fairest  prospects,  and 
disappointing  the  most  fondly  cherished  hopes — all  these 
are  affecting  views  of  death,  from  which  much  valuable 
instruction  may  be  derived.  But  it  is  only  when  we 
take  into  view  that  which  succeeds  death,  and  think  of 
its  consequences  in  a  future  and  an  eternal  state  of  be- 
ing, that  we  regard  it  in  its  just  character,  or  are  in 
circumstances  to  derive  from  it  its  most  impressive  and 
*35 


414  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

salutary  lessons.  And  if  our  judgment  be  regulated  by 
the  discoveries  of  the  gospel,  we  shall  take  this  extended 
and  comprehensive  view  of  death.  Our  eye  will  look 
far  beyond  the  tomb  where  our  ashes  are  to  repose.  We 
shall  recollect  that  death  is  not  the  extinction  of  the  be- 
ing, but  a  removal  from  a  state  of  trial  to  a  state  of  aw- 
ful and  unalterable  retribution,  and  that  according  to 
our  present  character,  it  will  either  introduce  us  into  the 
mansions  of  endless  bliss,  or  consign  us  to  the  regions  of 
unutterable  despair. 

O  then,  viewing  judgment  and  eternity  in  connexion 
with  death,  let  us  prepare  immediately,  and  with  all 
diligence,  and  on  scriptural  principles,  for  giving  in  our 
account  to  God.  We  are  guilty,  and  cannot  stand  be- 
fore him  and  be  justified  :  let  us  therefore  apply  in  faith, 
and  with  earnestness,  to  the  blood  of  Christ  whom  God 
hath  "set  forth  as  a  propitiation  for  sin,"  and  for  whose 
sake  he  hath  promised  to  forgive  u's  all  our  trespasses. 
We  are  naturally  depraved,  and  in  our  natural  state  are 
unfit  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  but  let  us  apply  for  the 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  will  enlighten  and  sanc- 
tify us,  and  make  us  "  meet  to  be  partakers  of  tlie  inheri- 
tance of  the  saints  in  light."  Let  no  difficulty  deter,  and 
no  allurement  seduce  us  from  a  work  so  essential  to  our 
everlasting  welfare.  Let  every  coming  day  find  us 
more  deeply  engaged  in  it ;  more  attentive  to  the  means 
by  which  it  is  to  be  promoted ;  more  ready  to  sacrifice 
every  interfering  interest,  that  our  souls  may  be  saved  in 
*'  the  day  of  the  Lord."  And  when  at  any  time  the 
corrupt  propensities  of  our  own  hearts,  or  the  blandish- 
ments of  an  evil  and  an  ensnaring  world,  tempt  us  to  neg- 
ligence or  criminal  security,  let  us  confirm  our  resolu- 
tion, and  quicken  our  diligence,  by  anticipating  that 
awful  day  when  God  shall  "  take  away  our  breath,"  and 
demand  from  us  "  an  account  of  our  stewardship,"  and 
assign  us  our  eternal  portion.  Brethren,  the  time  is 
short  and  uncertain,  we  know  not  when  we  may  die,  let 
us,  therefore,  set  ourselves,  instantly  and  cordially,  to  the 
work  of  preparation  for  what  is  before  us :  let  us  be 


SEE.  20.  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  415 

zealous  in  our  endeavors  to  glorify  God,  to  be  useful  to 
our  neighbor,  to  maintain  a  conscience  void  of  offence, 
to  cherish  that  faith  which  shall  be  turned  into  heavenly- 
vision,  and  to  cultivate  that  "  charity  which  thinketh  no 
evil,  which  suffereth  long  and  is  kind,"  and  in  the  bond 
of  which,  purified  from  all  the  petty  jealousies,  and 
resentments,  and  enmities  of  this  vain  and  evil  world, 
we  shall  be  for  ever  united  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father 
and  our  God. 

Yes,  my  friends,  we  are  tending  to  a  place  where 
strife  and  hatred  are  unknown.  In  this  restless  world, 
do  what  we  can,  we  may  not  be  able  to  ward  off  the 
attacks  of  misconception  and  calumny.  We  may  en- 
deavor "  as  much  as  lieth  in  us  to  live  peaceably  with  all 
men  :"  we  may  do  our  duty  faithfully,  laboriously,  per- 
se veringly  :  we  may  study,  with  scrupulous  care,  to 
keep  our  "  conscience  void  of  offence,  first  towards  our 
God,  and  then  towards  our  brethren ;"  and  yet  after  all, 
or  perhaps  on  that  very  account,  we  shall  neither  gain 
the  favor  of  one  class  of  mankind,  nor  avoid  the  re- 
proaches and  misrepresentations  of  another.  Motives 
will  be  imputed  to  us  which  we  never  felt.  Circum- 
stances will  be  invented  or  exaggerated  to  blacken  our 
reputation.  The  voice  of  reason  and  of  truth  Vvill  be 
drowned  amidst  the  clamor  of  violence  and  angry  feel- 
ing. Actions  that,  at  the  very  worst,  are  but  errors  of 
judgment,  will  be  confidently  set  down,  and  malevolently 
decried,  as  if  they  were  transgressions  of  the  moral  law  : 
And  what  is  least  tolerable  of  all,  to  the  malignity  of 
known  and  acknowledged  foes,  there  will  sometimes  be 
added  the  treachery  and  ingratitude  of  those  who  pro- 
fessed attachment,  and  to  whom  we  have  never  been 
wanting  either  in  duty  or  in  kindness.  Be  it  so.  It 
only  affords  us  an  additional  proof  of  the  depravity  of 
human  nature,  and  of  the  utter  worthlessness  of  human 
favor.  But  the  path  of  duty  and  of  comfort  is  plain  be- 
fore us.  We  must  continue,  my  friends,  to  act  agreeably 
to  tlie  convictions  of  our  own  minds,  and  to  the  standard 
of  duty,  according  to  the  measure  of  light  in  which  we 


416  VIEWS    OF    DEATH.  SER.  20. 

are  enabled  to  view  it.  The  moment  we  go  into  the 
principle  of  pleasing  men  rather  than  God,  that  moment 
we  merit  the  censures,  which,  in  other  circumstances, 
are  alleviated  by  the  consciousness  of  their  being  un- 
deserved. We  must  commit  our  cause  to  "  Him  who 
judgeth  righteous  judgment,"  and  to  whom  we  must  give 
account  at  last.  We  must  confide  in  Him,  that  if  he 
see  it  to  be  good  for  us,  he  will,  even  in  this  hfe,  remove 
the  prejudices,  and  soften  the  asperities  of  those  who 
have  hated  and  traduced  us.  And  at  all  events,  we 
can  look  forward  to  the  grave,  which  is  at  least  one 
refuge,  and  not  a  distant  one,  from  the  persecutions  and 
strifes  of  this  miserable  world,  for  there  at  length  "  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at 
rest."  There  is  a  silence  there,  which  our  enemies 
cannot  disturb ;  and  peradventure,  when  we  are  re- 
posing in  that  bed  of  peace,  they  by  whom  we  have 
been  calumniated,  may  be  touched  by  remorse,  and 
may  lament,  with  unavailing  grief,  the  wrongs  which 
they  have  done  and  cannot  repair.  But.  death  shall  be 
destroyed  at  last :  and  there  is  a  resurrection  ;  and 
there  is  a  judgment  to  come.  Then  the  veil  of  igno- 
rance shall  be  taken  away,  and  the  arts  of  wilful  mis- 
representation shall  be  exposed,  and  the  sentence  of 
trudi  shall  be  pronounced,  and  that  mercy  will  be  experi- 
enced from  God,  which  is  here  denied  by  man.  Heaven 
is  die  abode  of  charity  ;  and  there  all  our  contentions 
shall  be  forgotten  :  and,  united  in  the  bonds  of  ever- 
lasting love,  we  shall  join  together  in  the  grateful,  and 
harmonious,  and  never-ending  song  of  praise,  to  Him 
whose  kindness  has  never  forsaken  us,  and  who  has 
provided  "  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God." 


SERMON    XXI. 


CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE. 


1  CORINTHIANS  xv.  58. 

"  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stedfast,  un- 
moveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord^ 

The  "  work  of  the  Lord"  means  all  that  you  have  to 
believe  and  do,  as  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  implies 
the  principles  you  are  to  maintain,  the  affections  you 
are  to  cherish,  the  virtues  you  are  to  cultivate,  accord- 
ing to  the  lessons  and  prescriptions  of  his  authority.  It 
embraces  your  practical  conformity  to  the  v/hole  of 
that  rule,  various  and  comprehensive  as  it  is,  which  you 
find  laid  down  in  the  pages  of  his  word. 

To  you,  who  are  his  real  followers,  this  work  must 
not  only  be  known,  but  familiar.  For  unless  you  have 
been  acquainted  with  it,  you  could  not  have  accepted 
of  Him,  whom  it  recognises  as  your  Lord  and  Saviour  ; 
and  if  you  were  not  intimately  conversant  with  its  de- 
tails, this  would  indicate  such  an  indifference  to  its  im- 
portance and  obligations,  as  to  show  that  you  acknowl- 
edged Him  in  profession  only,  and  not  in  reality.     The 


418  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

exhortation  of  the  apostle  is  addressed  to  true  Chris- 
tians. And  such  of  you  as  profess  this  character  are 
supposed  to  be  aware  of  what  you  are  required  to  aim 
at,  and  to  be  distinguished  by,  in  order  to  substantiate 
your  claim  to  it,  and  to  be  actually  engaged  in  the  pur- 
suit of  those  spiritual  excellencies  of  which  it  consists. 

But,  besides  having  learned  what  this  character  is, 
and  fairly  and  seriously  entered  upon  its  duties,  it  is 
necessary  that  you  be  "  stedfast  and  unmoveable,  always 
abounding  in  it."  This  is  the  duty,  with  respect  "to 
the  work  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  here  inculcated  upon 
all  of  you  who  are  desirous  to  enjoy  those  advantages 
with  which  it  is  now  connected,  or  of  which  it  is  to  be 
ultimately  productive,  in  the  dispensation  of  the  great 
and  gracious  Master  by  whom  it  has  been  prescribed. 

"Be  ye  stedfast  and  unmoveable."  Having  once 
engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  you  must  never  de- 
sert it, — as  if  you  could,  even  at  the  most  advanced 
stage  of  its  progress,  reckon  yourselves  either  released 
from  its  activities,  or  free  from  its  restraints.  You 
must  continue  firm  in  feeling  for  it  that  devoted  attach- 
ment which  its  honorable  nature,  and  its  vast  importance 
demand  from  you  ;  and  you  must  be  constant  in  at- 
tending to  all  the  multiplied  occupations  in  which  it  re- 
quires you  to  be  practically  employed.  Nor  is  it 
enough  that  you  merely  persevere  in  the  general  under- 
taking— you  must  be  "unmoveable"  as  well  as  "  sted- 
fast." You  must  not  allow  your  attention  or  your  ef- 
forts to  be  w^ithdrawn,  for  ever  so  short  a  period,  from 
any  one  department  of  it,  however  inconsiderable  it 
may  be  deemed.  There  must  be  such  a  full  purpose 
of  heart,  and  such  a  resolute,  unwearied,  incessant  en- 
deavor for  its  promotion  and  accomplishment,  as  shall 
prevent  you,  either  from  abandoning  it  altogether,  or 
from  carrying  it  on  with  indifference  or  remissness. 
You  are  not,  on  any  account,  to  cease  from  the  minut- 
est, or  from  the  greatest  of  its  labors,  till  the  whole  be 
finished  according  to  the  will  of  God,  and  you  be  fully 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  419 

meet  for  passing  from  the  sphere  of  labor  and  service 
into  "  the  joy  of  your  Lord." 

Such  is  the  obHgation  you  have  to  fulfil  in  regard  to 
the  work  of  the  Lord, — arising,  at  once,  from  its  own 
intrinsic  nature,  from  the  express  terms  of  the  com- 
mandment which  enjoins  it,  and  from  the  great  ends 
which  it  is  destined  and  calculated  to  subserve. 

The  exhortation  evidently  supposes,  that  this  work 
will  be  attended  with  many  and  formidable  difhculties. 
And,  indeed,  every  one  who  knows  any  thing  of  what 
a  conscientious  performance  of  it  demands,  and  is,  at 
the  same  time,  aware  of  his  personal  incompetency  to 
the  task, — every  one  who  is,  in  whatever  degree,  experi- 
mentally acquainted  with  it, — will  immediately  perceive 
and  acknowledge  that  the  supposition  is  correct.  It 
demands  from  us  a  multitude  of  sacrifices  and  exertions, 
which  we  are  naturally  unwilling  to  make.  It  requires 
us  to  mortify  that  pride  of  understanding  and  of  heart, 
which  predominates  so  much  in  our  fallen  race.  It  re- 
quires us  to  "  crucify  the  flesh,  with  all  its  lusts  and 
affections," — to  deny  ourselves  to  those  gratifications  to 
which  we  are  most  attached, — to  renounce,  freely  and 
forever,  the  dearest  and  most  inveterate  habit,  which 
is  not  sanctioned  by  the  divine  will.  It  requires  us  to 
engage  in  pursuits  and  exercises  to  w^hich  our  minds 
are  naturally  averse, — to  study  an  exact  and  spiritual 
conformity  to  the  law  of  God, — to  discharge,  with  mi- 
nute and  scrupulous  fidelity,  all  the  duties  which  it  en- 
joins,— and  to  keep  our  hearts  as  well  as  our  lives,  un- 
contaminated  by  the  pollutions  of  the  world.  And 
then,  while  our  inherent  weakness  and  corruption  ren- 
der compliance  with  these  requirements  no  easy  task, 
we  are  beset,  on  every  side,  with  numerous  and  pow- 
erful temptations,  to  backsliding  and  apostacy  from  that 
cause  which  we  have  been  commissioned  to  prosecute 
and  maintain.  We  have  to  struggle  with  spiritual  ene- 
mies, who  artfully  insinuate  into  our  minds,  the  thought, 
that  it  is  a  hard  and  unprofitable  thing  to  serve  God. 
Ungodly  men  direct  against  us  the  shafts  of  that  profane 


420  CHRISTIAN   PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

ridicule,  which  has  succeeded  in  driving  so  many  from 
the  ways  of  piety  and  virtue.  And  worldly  pleasure,  in 
a  thousand  captivating  forms,  addresses  itself  to  our 
senses  and  our  passions,  and,  by  every  method  of 
allurement,  solicits  us  to  barter  a  good  conscience  for 
forbidden  joy.  In  short,  even  when  placed  in  the  most 
favorable  circumstances  for  carrying  forward  our  Chris- 
tian vocation,  we  are  exposed  to  innumerable  seduc- 
tions from  the  devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh ;  and  we 
must  expect  to  suffer  much,  if  we  would  faithfully  and 
successfully  perform  what  our  divine  Lord  has  given 
us  to  do. 

Now,  the  exhortation  of  the  apostle  has  a  peculiar 
reference  to  these  circumstances.  It  is  an  admonition 
not  to  yield  to  their  influence.  We  are  not  treated  as 
if,  having  trusted  that  "  the  Lord  is  gracious,"  and  re- 
posed our  confidence  in  him,  and  begun  our  course  of 
obedience,  we  required  no  farther  advice  and  expostu- 
lation. Our  dangers  are  pointed  out — we  are  reminded 
of  the  necessity  of  being  firm  and  stable  in  the  midst  of 
them — we  are  commanded  and  urged  to  act  on  the 
principle  of  an  unceasing  determination  not  to  fall  at 
any  time  from  our  stedfastness,  nor  to  move  from  the 
station  of  duty,  whatever  and  wherever  it  may  be, 
which  has  been  allotted  to  us.  In  spite  of  every  dis- 
couragement— in  spite  of  all  opposition — in  spite  of  the 
severest  hardships,  and  the  most  tempting  allurements, 
we  are  to  prosecute  the  duties  of  our  profession. 
Nothing  will  justify  us  in  becoming  negligent  or  idle  ; 
and  far  less  in  faithlessly  or  pusillanimously  abandoning 
the  engagements  which  have  been  authoritatively  im- 
posed upon  us,  and  to  which  we  have  solemnly  com- 
mitted ourselves.  There  may  be  difiiculties — but  we 
must  surmount  them.  There  may  be  enemies — but 
we  must  overcome  them.  There  may  be  temptations 
— ^but  we  must  resist  them.  There  may  be  distresses 
— ^but  we  must  bear  them.  There  may  be  persecu- 
tions— ^but  we  must  encounter,  and  endure,  and  with- 
stand them.     We  must  be  ready  to  suffer  the  loss  of  all 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  421 

things — "  to  pluck  out  a  right  eye,  or  cut  off  a  right 
hand" — to  part  with  life  itself,  rather  than  renounce  a 
cherished  confidence  in  the  cross  of  Jesus,  or  return 
again  to  the  sins  we  have  forsaken,  or  fail  in  the  un- 
compromising discharge  of  any  of  our  moral  duties,  or 
desert  the  ordinances  by  which  God  is  honored  and  our 
spiritual  improvement  advanced,  or  do  any  thing  which 
amounts  to  a  dereliction  of  that  holy  service  to  which 
we  have  been  called  by  divine  grace,  and  to  which  we 
have  been  consecrated  by  our  own  voluntary  deed. 
From  this  service,  and  from  all  that  is  essential  to  it, 
nothing  whatever, — be  it  violence  or  be  it  allurement, 
be  it  the  pain  to  which  it  may  subject  us,  or  the  gratifi- 
cation which  it  forbids  us, — nothing  must  ever  be  al- 
lowed to  detach  us,  till  He  to  whom  it  is  rendered,  shall 
be  pleased  to  release  us  from  our  toils  and  our  sorrows. 
It  is  thus  we  must  be  "  stedfast  and  unmoveable." 

But  the  apostle  further  exhorts  us  to  be  "  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  By  this  he 
means,  that  we  are  not  only  to  persevere,  but  also  to 
improve  in  it ;  that  our  zeal  in  carrying  it  forward  is  to 
burn  with  a  brighter  and  a  steadier  flame  ;  that  our 
diligence  is  to  become  more  uniform,  and  our  efforts 
more  conspicuous  ;  that  our  virtues  are  to  multiply  with 
our  opportunities,  and  to  be  invigorated  by  our  experi- 
ence ;  that  our  attainments  in  religious  and  moral  excel- 
lence are  to  advance  nearer  and  nearer  to  that  perfection 
after  which  the  gospel  teaches,  and  encourages,  and 
stimulates  us  to  aspire. 

It  is  to  be  expected,  indeed,  that  if  we  seriously  en- 
gage, and  steadily  persevere,  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
improvement  will  of  course  follow.  The  very  exer- 
cise which  our  good  principles  receive,  will  operate  in 
giving  them  additional  strength,  and  stability,  and  influ- 
ence. Temptation  to  sin,  by  being  frequently  and  suc- 
cessfully resisted,  will  gradually  lose  its  power  to  seduce 
our  affections,  and  to  lead  us  astray.  Duties  which 
have  been  resolutely  and  habitually  performed,  will  be- 
come comparatively  easy,  and  permit  us  to  take  a  more 
36 


422  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

extensive  range  in  the  field  of  usefulness.  The  grow- 
ing comforts  that  we  derive  from  the  faith,  and  obe- 
dience, and  hope  of  the  gospel,  will  induce  us  to  live  in 
closer  intimacy  with  the  Redeemer,  in  a  more  diligent 
observance  of  his  precepts,  and  in  a  more  lively  antic- 
ipation of  his  second  coming.  That  which  was  once 
the  evil  heart  of  unbelief  will  come  to  take  clearer  and 
more  impressive  views  of  those  great  truths  which  tend 
to  purify  its  desires  and  to  elevate  its  purposes.  Sin 
will  daily  acquire  a  more  loathsome  and  revolting  as- 
pect. Holiness  will  assume  features  of  increasing  love- 
liness and  attraction.  And  the  believing  eye,  fixed  in 
frequent  and  devout  contemplation  on  heaven,  will  real- 
ize diere  such  prospects  of  blessedness  and  glory,  as 
shall  elevate  the  soul  insensibly  above  the  vanities  of 
this  world,  assimilate  it  to  the  spiiits  of  the  just  made 
perfect,  fill  it  with  the  ambition  of  shining  in  all  the 
beauties  of  that  holiness  with  which  they  are  adorned, 
and  lead  it  by  degrees  to  "  purify  itself  even  as  God  is 
pure." 

In  this  light,  the  Scriptures  represent  the  Christian 
character.  They  speak  of  it  as  advancing  from  one 
degree  of  perfection  to  another.  They  compare  it  to 
the  natural  life,  which  begins  with  the  weakness  of  the 
babe,  and  goes  on  by  successive  and  imperceptible 
steps,  to  the  stature,  and  vigor,  and  maturity  of  a  per- 
fect man.  They  compare  it  to  a  race,  in  which  the 
competitors  redouble  their  efforts,  and  accelerate  their 
speed,  as  they  approach  the  goal  at  which  the  prize  is 
to  be  obtained.  And  they  compare  it  to  the  course  of 
the  sun  in  the  firmament,  who  increases  in  splendor  as 
he  ascends,  and  ^'  shines  more  and  more  unto  the  per- 
fect day." 

Nor  is  tliere  any  period  at  which  this  course  of  pro- 
gressive improvement  is  permitted  to  stop.  The  very 
nature  of  the  Christian's  work  forbids  that  there  should 
be  any  pause  or  cessation  in  its  progress.  There  is 
always  occasion  for  proceeding  with  what  has  been 
already  begun,  securing   what  has  been  already  ac- 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  423 

quired,  and  improving  what  has  been  already  attained  ; 
there   is    ahvays   some    defect  to  be    supplied — some 
allurement  to  be  repelled — some  corruption  to  be  sub- 
dued— some  grace  to  be  cherished  and   Invigorated — 
some  evil  to  be  removed — some  excellence  to  be  added. 
The  motives  to  holy  exertion  and  benevolent  enterprise, 
not  only  continue  to  operate,  but  increase  in   variety 
and  strength ;  and  in  proportion  to  their  number  and 
their  force,  they  will  secure   a  greater  and  a  growing 
multiplicity  of  those  acts  of  faith,  and  piety,  and  right- 
eousness, and  self-denial,  and  charity,  by  which  every 
true   Christian  must  be  distinguished.     And  no  man 
who  feels  the  power  of  genuine  Christianity,  and  who 
has  embraced  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  and  who  sur- 
renders himself  to  those  spiritual  influences  which  it  ex- 
ercises over  him,  can  fail  to  be  sensible  that  it  is  a  part 
of  his  vocation  to  bring   forth  fruit  continually,  and  to 
bring  it  forth  in  greater  abundance,  and  in  greater  ma- 
turity, as  a  tree  planted  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  on 
which,  from  day  to  day,  the  cares  of  the  spiritual  hus- 
bandman are  employed.     Even   the  apostle  Paul  him- 
self, who  had  labored  so  long,  so  faithfully,  so  diligently, 
so  acceptably,  and   so  successfully  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  did  at  no  time  count  himself  to  have  apprehend- 
ed :  he  did  not  think  that  "  he  had  already  attained,  or 
that  he  was  already  perfect ;  but  forgetting  the  things 
tliat  were   behind,  and  reaching   forth  to  those   things 
tliat  were  before,  he  pressed  toward  the  mark   for  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."     And 
surely,  if  a  man  so  high  and  so  rich  in  the  acquirements 
of  Christian  principle  and  Christian  practice,  deemed  it 
incumbent  to  rise   yet^  higher,  and  grow  yet  richer,  in 
the  measure  of  his  heavenly  calling,  much  more   must 
it  be  incumbent  upon  us  who  are  still  but  following  him 
at  an  humble  distance,  to  "give  all  diligence,  to  add  to 
our    faith,    virtue,  and    to    virtue,  knowledge  ;  and    to 
knowledge,  temperance  ;  and  to  temperance,  patience  ; 
and  to  patience,  godliness;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly 
kindness;    and  to  brotherly  kindness,  charity; — that 


424  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

these  things  being  in  us,  and  abounding,  we  may  be 
found  neither  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord." 

Yes,  my  friends,  this  is  the  duty,  which  you  have  to 
perform.  Regarding  the  work  of  the  Lord  as  most 
honorable  and  glorious  in  itself — as  contributing  to  the 
perfection  of  your  moral  nature,  and  in  fact  essentially 
mvolving  it — as  assigned  to  you  by  Him  from  whom 
you  received  your  being  with  all  its  capacities  and  ad- 
vantages— as  endeared  to  your  feelings  by  the  grace 
and  condescension  which  call  you  to  it,  as  well  as  by 
the  dignity  and  the  holiness  which  characterize  it — and 
as  the  only  source  of  genuine  comfort  hi  this  world,  and 
the  only  preparation  for  the  happiness  of  that  which  is 
to  come — regarding  it  in  these  lights,  you  will  never 
reckon  yourselves  to  have  labored  in  it  with  sufficient 
ardor  or  with  adequate  success,  but  you  "  will  go  on 
from  strength  to  strength,  till  you  appear  before  God  in 
Zion."  It  is  a  part  of  your  Christian  work  that  you 
*'  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God."  You  will  strive, 
then,  that  your  faith  may  become  stronger — more 
lively,  and  more  appropriating,  and  more  purifying  ; 
that  you  may  be  less  biassed  by  those  feelings  of  self- 
righteousness  which  are  so  apt  to  intrude  between  you 
and  Christ;  that  you  may  have  brighter  views,  and 
more  impressive  convictions  of  his  all-sufficiency ;  and 
that  you  may  repose  a  more  cordial,  and  undivided, 
and  delighted  trust  in  him,  as  all  that  your  souls  can 
desire  for  their  eternal  salvation.  It  is  a  part  of  your 
Christian  work  that  you  exercise  "  repentance  towards 
God ;"  you  will  study  then  to  feel  more  regret  and  hu- 
mility under  a  sense  of  your  unworthiness  ;  to  have 
more  affecting  impressions  of  the  odiousness  and  the 
evil  of  sin ;  to  hate  it  "  with  a  more  perfect  hatred  ;" 
to  guard  against  the  commission  of  it  with  increasing 
jealousy  and  care ;  to  be  more  watchful  of  the  purity 
of  your  hearts  "  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life  ;" 
and  to  be  more  determined  in  your  purposes  of  imme- 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  425 

diate  amendment,  and  in  your  endeavors  after  a  better 
obedience. — It  is  a  part  of  your  Christian  work  that 
you  discharge  ail  the  various  duties  incumbent  on  you 
in  your  different  circumstances  and  relations.  You  will 
be  anxious,  then,  that  none  of  them  be,  at  any  time, 
disregarded  or  forgotten  ;  that  you  may  be  more  and 
more  convinced  of  their  obligation  and  necessity ;  that 
you  may  have  a  more  decided  inclination  to  perform 
them  ;  that  you  may  attend  to  them  under  the  influence 
of  purer  motives  ;  that  you  may  be  more  industrious, 
more  ardent,  more  resolute,  more  conscientious  in  ful- 
filling them ;  and  that  you  produce  in  rich  and  increas- 
ing abundance,  all  those  "  fruits  of  righteousness,  which 
are  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  glory  and  praise  of  God." 
It  is  a  part  of  your  Christian  work  that  you  make  a 
diligent  use  of  the  appointed  means  of  grace  and  salva- 
tion. You  will  then  endeavor  to  apply  to  these  with 
still  greater  regularity  and  zeal — with  more  devotion  of 
heart — with  more  purity  of  intention — with  stronger 
desires  and  firmer  purposes  of  improvement ;  to  take 
more  pleasure  as  well  as  to  be  more  conscientious  in 
reading  the  word  of  God  5  to  be  more  observant  of  the 
sanctity  of  his  Sabbaths;  to  wait  upon  him  v/ith  more 
piety  of  feeling  in  the  services  of  his  house  ;  to  be  more 
frequent  and  more  fervent  in  your  applications  at  "  the 
throne  of  grace  ;"  to  apply  these  exercises  more  stead- 
ily and  more  faithfully  to  those  practical  ends  for  which 
they  are  recommended  and  enjoined  ;  and  to  engage 
in  diem  in  such  a  manner,  as  not  only  to  promote  your 
own  personal  advantage  and  well-being,  but  to  afford  a 
more  open  and  unequivocal  testimony  against  the  pre- 
vailing irreligion  and  profaneness  of  an  ungodly  world, 
and  against  the  hollow  professions  and  compromising 
practices  of  nominal  Christians. 

Thus  have  I  attempted  a  short  illustration  of  the 
duty  prescribed  in   my  text,  with  respect  to  the  work 
of  the  Lord  :  we  must  abide  by  this  work — no  consid- 
eration must  prevail  upon  us  to  abandon  any  part  of  it 
*3G 


426  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

— and  we  must  make  a  progressive  improvement  in  all 
its  branches — till  we  can  say  with  our  Saviour,  "  I  have 
finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do." 

But,  perhaps,  some  will  say,  "  We  know  that  this  is 
our  work,  but  we  feel  ourselves  unable  to  accomplish 
it — it  is  in  many  respects  difficult  and  laborious,  and 
painful — and  we  are  conscious  of  no  resources  in  our- 
selves that  are  at  all  commensurate  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  case."  All  this  is  true  ;  and  it  is  well  that  you  are 
sensible  of  it.  O  that  the  conviction  were  more  lively 
and  more  habitual  in  your  minds !  for  it  would  un- 
questionably lead  you  to  apply  with  greater  earnestness 
to  Him  who  will  "  strengthen  you  with  all  might  through 
the  Spirit,"  and  make  you  "  more  than  conquerors" 
over  the  most  formidable  opposition  yon  can  be  called 
to  encounter.  Yes,  my  brethren.  He  who  has  assigned 
you  the  work  will  give  you  power  to  effect  it.  His 
language  is,  "My  grace  is  sufficient  for  you,  my 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  your  weakness."  In  obey- 
ing his  commandments,  you  ought  not  to  distrust  the 
faithfulness  of  the  promises  with  which  he  accompanies 
them.  And,  indeed,  if  you  be  Christians,  you  know 
from  experience  that  he  is  both  able  and  ready  to  help 
you,  to  the  utmost  of  your  need.  There  is  no  mock- 
ery in  saying  to  you,  weak  and  insufficient  as  you  natu- 
rally are,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation" — for  we  have 
to  add  this  compatible  and  encouraging  assurance,  that 
"  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do 
of  his  own  good  pleasure."  The  most  liberal  help 
to  our  spiritual  infirmities  is  provided  by  the  gospel. 
The  Holy  Spirit  has  been  procured  for  us  by  the  death 
of  Christ :  He  is  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  might ; 
and  he  is  promised  to  them  that  ask  him.  Indeed  it  is 
a  part  of  your  work  as  Christians,  to  depend  upon  his 
influences,  and,  in  token  of  your  dependance,  humbly 
to  supplicate  them.  Cherish  this  dependance,  then — 
lift  up  this  supplication  to  the  Hearer  of  prayer,  and 
you  shall  receive  from  him  according  to  your  need. 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  427 

Trust  in  the  Lord  Jehovah,  and  you  shall  be  "  as 
Mount  Zion  which  cannot  be  removed,  but  which 
abideth  forever."  "  Wait  thus  upon  the  Lord  ;  and 
you  shall  mount  up  on  wings  as  eagles — you  shall  run 
and  not  be  weary — you  shall  walk  and  not  faint."  Up- 
held by  him  who  is  the  strength  of  Israel,  you  shall  ad- 
vance with  vigor  and  alacrity  in  the  way  of  his  com- 
mandments, you  shall  be  stedfast  and  immovable, 
always  abounding  in  every  good  work — till  finally  you 
shall  be  able  to  adopt  the  language  of  Paul,  and  say, 
"  I  have  finished  my  course — I  have  kept  the  faith — 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness." 

And  now  let  me  direct  your  attention  for  a  little  to 
the  motive  by  which  the  apostle  encourages  us  to  com- 
ply with  his  exhortation  :  "  Forasmuch  as  ye  know  that 
your  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

"  Our  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain."  If  we  be  stedfast 
and  unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,"  he  will  bestow  upon  us  a  reward.  He  might, 
in  the  plenitude  of  his  sovereign  authority,  have  de- 
manded our  utmost  exertions,  without  conferring  any 
recompense.  And,  indeed,  when  we  reflect  on  the 
poverty  of  our  services,  and  on  the  sinfulness  which 
mingles  with  every  one  of  them,  we  have  reason  to 
wonder  that  he  does  not  reject  us  as  unprofitable  and 
unworthy.  But  he  mercifully  beholds  us  in  Christ,  his 
beloved  Son,  who  is  "  the  Lord  our  righteousness  and 
strength."  And  in  consideration  of  what  Christ  has 
done  and  suffered  on  our  account  and  in  our  stead,  he 
condescends  to  accept  of  our  faithful  labors  in  the 
cause  of  truth  and  godliness,  and  to  crown  our  perse- 
verance in  them  with  a  reward  suited  to  our  attainments, 
and  to  the  riches  of  his  own  grace. 

The  work  of  the  Lord,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  carry 
its  own  reward  along  w^ith  it,  even  in  a  present  world. 
There  is  "joy  and  peace  in  believing."  There  is  a 
delight  in  obeying  the  law  of  the  Lord  after  the  inward 


428  CHRISTIAN   PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

man.  There  is  a  gladness  when  "  the  light  of  God's 
countenance"  shines  upon  us,  which  the  men  of  the 
world  know  nothing  of,  even  when  "their  corn  and 
their  wine  do  most  abound."  And  such  is  the  power  of 
the  "  hope  that  enters  in  within  the  vail,"  and  such  are 
the  "  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  those  by  whom 
they  are  experienced — and  they  are  in  some  measure 
experienced  by  all  the  faithful  servants  of  God — are 
not  only  happy  when  their  outward  fortunes  are  pros- 
perous, but  enabled  to  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  tribula- 
tion. 

But  the  reward  here  mentioned  is  evidently  future. 
The  exhortation  with  which  the  promise  of  it  is  con- 
nected, follows  those  cheering  and  glorious  prospects  of 
the  resurrection  which  the  apostle  had  been  holding  out 
in  the  previous  part  of  the  chapter  ;  and  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  saints  is  always  identified  with  that  celestial 
felicity  to  which  it  is  a  preliminary.  It  is  a  resurrection 
to  life  and  immortality — to  sinless  purity — to  spiritual 
enjoyment — to  glory,  bright  and  everlasting.  It  is 
therefore  the  happiness  of  heaven  which  the  apostle 
teaches  us  to  anticipate  as  the  termination  and  the  re- 
ward of  our  constancy  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

And  that  is  a  happiness  that  may  well  animate  and 
encourage  us  to  undergo  any  toils,  and  to  endure  any 
hardships,  which  can  ever  belong  to  such  a  service. 
For  it  is  a  happiness  accommodated  to  the  noblest  ca- 
pacities of  our  nature  ;  arising  from  the  progressive  and 
rapid  improvement  of  our  intellectual  faculties, — from 
the  indefinite  extension  of  our  knowledge  of  all  that  is 
excellent  and  sublime  in  the  universe — from  the  state 
of  purity  and  vigor  to  which  our  moral  powers  shall  be 
raised  when  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption, 
and  allowed  to  expatiate  in  a  sinless  world — and  from 
tlie  unwearied  and  unceasing  exercise  of  our  best  affec- 
tions on  those  objects  and  pursuits  which  are  full  of 
holiness  and  love,  and  peace  and  joy. — It  is  a  happiness 
altogether  perfect  in  its  own  nature  :  flowing  from  com- 


SER.  21.  CHRISTIAN    PERSEVERANCE.  429 

munion  with  that  Being  who  is  the  fountain  of  all  good- 
ness and  of  all  grace  ;  consisting  in  pleasures  that 
Divinity  alone  can  communicate,  and  that  Heaven 
alone  can  furnish ;  unmixed  with  any  of  those  evils, 
and  undisturbed  by  that  consciousness  of  guilt,  which 
mar  the  sweetest  of  our  comforts  upon  earth  ;  and  so 
exalted  and  so  exquisite,  so  rich  and  so  unbounded,  as 
to  baffle  all  the  efforts  of  the  human  mind  to  conceive 
or  to  describe  it.  It  is  a  happiness  everlasting  in  its 
duration — to  be  enjoyed  without  interruption  and  with- 
out end.  It  is  a  "  kingdom  that  cannot  be  moved  ;" 
"  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  as  well  as  undefiled  " 
"  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away."  It  is  im- 
mortal as  the  soul  of  man,  and  eternal  as  the  throne  of 
God.  It  is  a  happiness  secured  to  every  believer  be- 
yond the  possibility  of  disappointment  or  loss.  Pur- 
chased by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  promised  in  the 
word  of  truth,  and  laid  up  in  store  by  him  who  is  Lord 
of  all,  it  may  be  anticipated  with  unsuspecting  and  un- 
reserved confidence.  "  Ye  know,^^  says  the  apostle, 
"  that  your  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 
The  riches  of  your  Redeemer's  love  might  have 
warranted  you  to  expect  it ;  but  He  removes  all 
doubt  and  anxiety  that  may  arise  in  your  minds,  by 
condescending,  through  the  words  of  our  text,  to 
pledge  his  faithfulness  to  bestow  the  reward.  Sooner 
will  he  deny  himself,  than  frustrate  the  hopes  with 
which  he  has  inspired  and  encouraged  you.  It  may 
still  be  necessary  for  you  to  continue  your  labors. 
You  may  still  have  to  encounter  difficulties,  and  per- 
secutions, and  hardships.  Still  may  there  be  a  great 
deal  for  you  to  do  and  a  great  deal  to  suffer.  But 
fear  not.  Be  not  cast  down.  "  Possess  your  souls 
in  patience."  "  Rejoice  in  your  tribulations."  "  Your 
witness  is  in  heaven ;  your  record  is  on  high ;  your 
"  names  are  written  in  the  book  of  life ;"  and  ere 
long  you  shall  have  the  blessedness  of  those  who, 
having  "lived   in  the  Lord,  die    also   in   the    Lord, 


430  CHRISTIAN   PERSEVERANCE.  SER.  21. 

who  rest  from  their  labors,  and  whose  works  do  fol- 
low them."  Persevere  then  in  your  Christian  course. 
Be  not  "  of  them  who  draw  back  unto  perdition,  but 
of  them  who  believe  to  the  saving  of  the  soul." 
"  Be  stedfast  and  unmoveable,  always  abounding  in 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that 
your  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord."     Amen. 


SERMON    XXII.* 


THE   CHRISTIAN    MINISTER'S    FAREWELL. 


2  TIMOTHY  iii.  13. 

"  Continue  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast  learned, 
and  hast  been  assured  of,  knowing  of  whom  thou  hast 
learned  themJ^ 

The  writer  of  these  words,  knowing  that  he  was  about 
to  be  "  offered  up,"  and  that  "  the  time  of  his  departure 
was  at  hand,"  was  not  wilhng  that  one  whom  he  re- 
garded as  his  son  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  should 
want  that  peculiar  inducement  to  pastoral  fidelity,  and 
Christian  perseverance,  which  arises  from  a  parting  in- 
junction. He  calls  upon  him,  therefore,  to  remember 
the  instructions  he  had  received,  and  to  continue  in 
them  ;  and  he  gives  force  to  the  exhortation,  by  re- 
minding him  of  the  authority  on  which  they  were 
founded. 

In  like  manner,  I  would  address  you,  my  brethren ; 
and  as  the  pastoral  relation,  which  for  some  years  has 
subsisted  between  us,  is  about  to  be  dissolved,  I  trust 
that  you  will  bear  with  me,  while  I  say  a  few  words  in 
reference  to  our  present  circumstances. 

•  Preached  in  the  New  Greyfriars's  Church,  on  the  afternoon  of  Sabbath, 
IStb  June,  1814,  at  tlie  close  of  bis  ministry  in  that  charge. 


432  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

I  return  my  best  thanks  to  you  all,  elders  and  peo- 
ple, for  the  attention  and  kindness  I  have  uniformly  ex- 
perienced since  I  came  among  you.  Be  assured,  I 
shall  always  retain  a  grateful  recollection  of  it.  It  will 
ever  afford  me  the  sincerest  pleasure  to  hear  of  your 
welfare.  I  pray  that  the  Lord  may  bless  you  with 
every  temporal  blessing  ;  but  my  most  earnest  prayer 
is,  that  you  may  be  all  saved — that  not  one  of  you  may 
be  lost — that  we  may  all  meet  in  glory. 

It  is  from  no  affectation  of  humility  I  confess  many 
omissions  and  shortcomings  of  duty.  I  hope,  however, 
I  have  not  failed  so  much,  as  to  prevent  you  from  com- 
plying with  my  request,  for  your  indulgence  and  for- 
giveness. And  O,  unite  your  supplications  with  mine, 
for  the  forgiveness  of  that  great  Being  who  has  en- 
trusted me  with  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  to  whom  I 
must  one  day  render  "  an  account  of  my  stewardship," 
and  on  whose  decision  the  everlasting  destiny  of  every 
one  of  us  depends.  May  he  grant,  of  his  infinite 
mercy,  that  my  "  lack  of  service"  may  be  supplied  by 
richer  and  more  abundant  communications  of  his 
grace,  and  that,  in  the  luminous  and  efficacious  teach- 
ing of  his  Holy  Spirit,  you  may  be  fully  compq^isated 
for  the  defects  of  one  who  feelingly  acknowledges,  that 
his  labors  have  not  been  commensurate  either  with  his 
duty  or  his  desire. 

Yet,  I  bless  God,  that  my  endeavors  have  not  been 
altogether  without  success.  I  know  that  I  neither  flat- 
ter myself  nor  you,  when  1  say,  that  some  portion  of 
good  has  been  done.  And  you  will  believe  me  when  I 
tell  you,  that  this  affords  me  a  pleasure  which  I  would 
not  exchange  for  a  thousand  worlds.  To  be  the  instru- 
ment of  converting,  or  of  edifying,  or  of  preparing,  even 
one  soul  for  heaven  and  eternity,  is,  in  my  estimation, 
an  honor  infinitely  purer  and  more  exalted,  than  all  the 
achievements  which  are  limited  to  earth  and  time,  can 
possibly  confer.  Let  the  man  of  science  boast  of  the 
discoveries  by  which  he  has  improved  the  arts  of  life, 
and  promoted  the  civilization  of  society.     Let  the  war- 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  433 

rior  triumph  in  the  multitude  and  splendor  of  the  con- 
quests which  his  prowess  has  obtained.  Let  the  patriot 
and  philanthropist  exult  in  having  given  freedom  and 
prosperity  to  half  the  globe.  I  envy  not  the  distinctions 
they  have  thus  acquired,  if  there  be  a  single  individual 
among  you,  however  poor  and  lowly,  to  whom,  as  a 
moral  and  accountable  being,  I  have  been  useful.  In 
this  I  rejoice,  yea,  and  will  rejoice  to  my  latest  moments, 
that  I  have  "  not  labored  among  you  in  vain," — that  the 
doctrine  which  I  have  inculcated  has  produced  some 
measure  of  saving  and  sanctifying  effect — that  there  are 
some  of  my  beloved  hearers  to  whom  it  has  been  already 
blessed,  and  to  whom  it  shall  finally  prove  "a  savor  of 
life  unto  life."  And  why  should  not  I  be  glad  in  this? 
"  For  what  is  my  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing  ? 
Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  at  his  coming  ?     For  ye  are  my  glory  and  my 

joy." 

But  far  be  from  my  heart,  and  from  yours,  any  proud 
and  lofty  notions  of  our  own  power,  as  if  we,  by  our- 
selves, could  give  efficacy  to  that  gospel,  of  which  we 
are  only  the  imperfect  channel,  or  the  unworthy  objects. 
"Paul  may  plant,  and  Apollos  may  water,  but  it  is  God 
that  giveth  the  increase."  I  ask  you,  therefore,  to  join 
with  me  in  ascribing  all  the  praise  to  Him.  "The 
treasure"  has  been  committed  to  "  an  earthen  vessel," 
but  "  the  excellency  and  the  power"  belong  to  that  Be- 
ing, by  "  whose  grace  alone  ye  are  what  ye  are."  And 
blessed  be  His  glorious  name,  forever  and  ever,  that 
the  word  spoken  has  profited,  in  making  you  "  wise 
unto  salvation,"  and  in  "  building  you  up,  and  preparing 
you  for  an  inheritance  among  all  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied !" 

Suffer,  I  beseech  you,  for  a  little,  the  word  of  ex- 
hortation. And  let  me  address  myself,  first,  to  those 
who,  in  the  course  of  my  ministry,  have  been  brought 
to  "  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ." 
Beware  of  returning  to  the  darkness  and  the  danger 
from  which  you  have  been  rescued.  Be  not  "  of  them 
37 


434  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

who  draw  back  unto  perdition,  but  of  them  who  believe 
to  the  saving  of  the  soul."  You  would  not  be  guilty  of 
the  crime  of  apostacy, — you  cannot  even  think  of  it 
without  trembling  and  anxiety.  By  the  grace  of  God, 
you  are  safely  landed  on  a  peaceful  and  happy  shore ; 
and  will  you  plunge  again  into  the  perils  of  the  dark 
and  stormy  deep  ?  You  have  been  made  to  exult  in 
the  sacred  "  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes  his  people 
free  ;"  and  will  you  again  consent  to  be  immured  in 
the  gloomy  dungeons  of  sin,  to  be  bound  in  its  galling 
fetters,  to  be  doomed  to  do  its  degrading  work,  and,  at 
last,  to  receive  its  wages  which  is  death?  You  have 
been  permitted  to  look  with  the  eye  of  hope  into  the 
paradise  of  God,  and  to  anticipate  its  joys  which  are 
unspeakable,  and  its  glories  which  are  unfading ;  and 
will  you  now  renounce  the  exalted  prospect — will  you 
turn  away  your  eyes  from  beholding  scenes  so  lovely 
and  magnificent — will  you  abandon  all  your  interest  in 
that  rich  inheritance,  and  again  seek  for  happiness  in 
the  vain,  the  fleeting,  the  sinful  pleasures  of  a  world, 
which  can  give  you  no  peace  here,  and  must  abandon 
you  to  misery  hereafter  ?  O,  no,  you  cannot  be  so  cruel 
to  your  own  souls.  You  cannot  be  so  cruel  to  those 
who  "watch  for  your  souls,"  and  whose  highest  satis- 
faction is  derived  from  seeing  you  move  onward  in  the 
path  that  leads  to  heaven.  You  cannot  be  so  cruel  to 
the  church  which  is  deeply  interested  in  your  conduct 
and  destiny,  and  to  whose  triumphs  you  have  so  honor- 
ably contributed.  You  cannot  be  so  cruel  to  your 
pious  friends,  who  have  prayed  for  you,  and  wept  for 
you,  and  whose  prayers  have  been  answered,  and  whose 
tears  have  been  wiped  away,  by  your  conversion  unto 
God.  You  cannot  be  so  cruel  to  the  angels  in  heaven, 
"  among  whom  there  was  joy"  over  you  when  you  re- 
pented, and  who  would  sorrow  at  your  fall.  And  you 
cannot  be  so  cruel  to  that  Saviour  who  died  that  you 
might  live,  who  has  "  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light" — and  who,  in  the  tenderness  with 
which  he  says  to  you,  "will  ye  also  go  away?"  demon- 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  435 

strates  how  earnest  is  his  desire  that  you  "  forsake  not 
your  first  love,"  but  continue  "  faithful  to  him  unto 
death."  By  all  that  is  dear  to  you  in  time  and  in  eter- 
nity— by  all  that  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  of 
angels,  and  of  saints,  let  me  conjure  you  to  remain  sted- 
fast  in  your  attachment  to  the  Saviour,  in  whom  you 
have  trusted,  and  to  whom  you  have  committed  the 
keeping  of  your  immortal  interests.  You  have  embraced 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  Redeemer — you  have  embraced 
him,  because  you  are  convinced  that  he  came  from  God 
— because  you  felt  your  absolute  need  of  him — because 
you  perceived  his  suitableness  to  the  circumstances  and 
necessities  of  your  condition.  But  the  evidences  of  his 
divine  mission  which  satisfied  you  at  first,  have  lost 
nothing  of  their  clearness  and  their  force.  The  more 
you  examine  the  state  of  human  nature  and  of  your  own 
hearts,  the  more  forcibly  will  you  feel  that  if  you  are 
without  him,  you  must  also  be  "  without  God  and  with- 
out hope."  And  the  more  you  contemplate  the  per- 
fections of  his  character  and  the  nature  of  his  salvation 
the  more  distinctly  and  impressively  will  you  see  that 
they  who  hav^e  taken  him  as  their  Saviour,  must  have 
every  thing  which  their  souls  can  desire,  or  which  their 
situation  demands.  Let  the  same  reasons,  then,  which 
constrained  you  to  embrace  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  de- 
termine you  to  "  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  your  confi- 
dence stedfast  unto  the  end." 

Continue  to  believe  in  him — to  love  him — to  obey 
him.  Adhere  to  him  with  uninterrupted  fidelity  and 
unconquerable  zeal.  Better  never  to  have  heard  of 
Christ,  than  after  having  heard  of  him,  and  seen  him  in 
all  the  grace  and  glory  of  his  character,  and  accepted 
him  as  your  Saviour  and  your  King — to  cast  away  your 
confidence — to  break  your  engagements — and  deliber- 
ately to  prefer  the  yoke  of  Satan  to  His.  But  "  be 
faithful  to  the  death,  and  Christ  will  give  you  a  crown 
of  life."  This  is  the  promise  by  which  he  supports 
and  animates  you  in  the  path  of  righteousness  ;  and  he 
is  willing,  he  is  able,  he  is  faithful,  to  perform  all  that 


436  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

he  has  promised.  The  reward  may  be  distant — and 
yet  it  is  not  so  distant,  but  that  faith  may  realize  it,  and 
hope  in  some  measure  enjoy  it,  even  here.  And  when 
it  is  received,  how  glorious — how  exceeding  great  is  it ! 
It  is  rich  as  the  benevolence,  divine  as  the  nature,  and 
everlasting  as  the  duration  of  Him  who  bestows  it.  It 
is  true,  my  friends,  that  you  may  expect  many  trials, 
in  maintaining  your  adherence  to  Christ.  These,  I  am 
persuaded,  you  have  already  experienced  ;  and  you 
may  find  it  hard  and  difficult  to  bear  them.  And  yet  I 
may  ask  if  you  have  not  experienced,  amidst  them  all, 
a  heartfelt  joy  which  you  never  experienced  before, 
even  "  when  your  corn  and  your  wine  did  most  abound  ?" 
A  mind  at  peace  with  God,  and  with  itself,  has  in  it  a 
source  of  satisfaction  and  delight  which  no  evil  can  im- 
pair— which  no  calamity  can  destroy.  And  if,  in  past 
times,  you  have  known  this  fact  experimentally,  trust 
me  when  I  tell  you,  from  divine  authority,  that  you 
shall  continue  to  know  it  experimentally,  in  every  suc- 
ceeding stage  of  your  progress  through  this  wilderness. 
For  "  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing, shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ 
Jesus." 

But  I  would  place  your  encouragement  to  persevere, 
in  spite  of  difficulties  and  dangers,  on  yet  a  higher 
ground.  Let  the  opposition  which  you  may  encounter 
from  within  and  from  without,  be  more  formidable  than 
your  experience  has  ever  known,  or  than  your  fears 
have  ever  painted — still  I  would  say,  persevere  and  be 
not  afraid.  "  He  who  is  for  you  is  infinitely  greater 
than  all  that  can  be  against  you."  He  who  is  for  you 
is  "  the  Lord  from  heaven."  You  cannot  doubt  his  love, 
for  he  loved  you  even  to  the  death  of  the  cross.  You  can- 
not doubt  his  power,  for  it  was  he  who  made  the  worlds, 
and  it  was  he  who  created  your  soul  again  from  the  dark 
chaos  of  sin.  Trust  in  him  then — apply  to  him — live 
by  faith  in  him,  and  he  will  make  you  "  more  than  con- 
querors over  all  your  enemies."     He  will  give  you  vie- 


SER. 


22.  minister's  farewell.  437 


tory  over  the  corruptions  and  deceitfulness  of  your  own 
hearts — over  the  snares  of  an  evil  and  fascinating 
world — over  the  scorn  and  persecutions  of  ungodly 
men — over  the  temptations  of  the  wicked  one — over 
the  fear  of  death  and  over  the  power  of  the  grave.  In 
difficulties  and  in  darkness  he  will  guide  you  by  the 
counsels  of  his  wisdom.  In  weakness  and  in  danger 
he  will  protect  you  with  the  arm  of  his  everlasting 
strength.  In  sorrow  he  will  pour  the  consolations  of 
his  Spirit  into  your  wounded  soul.  And  during  the 
whole  course  of  your  pilgrimage,  he  will  watch  over 
you  with  unremitting  care,  and  "  keep  you  by  his 
mighty  power  through  faith  unto  eternal  salvation." 

I  would  now  address  myself  to  those  Christians  to 
whom  I  have  been  useful,  by  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
in  imparting  comfort  and  edification. 

I  would  remind  you,  my  friends,  and  I  beseech  you 
to  bear  it  in  your  remembrance,  that  whatever  comfort 
and  whatever  edification  you  have  received  through  my 
ministry,  has  all  been  derived  from  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures : — whatever  it  may  be  "  that  you  have  learned 
and  been  assured  of,"  your  knowledge  and  your  assur- 
ance have  all  flowed  from  this  divine  source.  If  I 
have  been  the  means  of  wiping  away  one  tear  of  sor- 
row from  your  eye,  of  casting  one  ray  of  spiritual  light 
into  your  understanding,  of  invigorating  one  principle  in 
your  hearts,  or  of  improving  one  virtue  in  your  charac- 
ter, tliese  effects  have  been  produced  by  the  power  of 
this  blessed  book.  It  has  been  my  uniform  endeavor 
to  preach  to  you  not  "  the  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom,"  which  never  did,  and  never  can,  save  a  soul, 
but  only  the  genuine  unadulterated  word  of  God,  as  re- 
vealed to  us  by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  I  have  labored 
to  inculcate  upon  your  minds  suitable  impressions  of  its 
truth,  its  excellence,  its  importance,  and*  its  authority, 
and  so  far  as  I  am  aware, — if  I  have  at  any  time  done 
otherwise,  may  God  forgive  me  ! — every  doctrine  I 
have  taught,  and  every  precept  I  have  enforced,  every 
promise  I  have  unfolded,  and  every  prospect  I  have  set 
*37 


438  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

before  you,  have  been  taken  from  the  pages  of  this 
volume,  which  the  Almighty  has  given  by  inspiration, 
which  contains  all  "  the  words  of  eternal  life,"  and  out 
of  which  there  is  no  light,  no  purity,  no  comfort,  no 
happiness,  for  fallen  and  sinful  men. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  give  you  an  advice  of  greater 
moment,  or  one  more  consistent  with  the  tenor  of  my 
ministrations,  or  more  suitable  to  the  views  of  the  apos- 
tle, as  these  are  expressed  in  the  succeeding  context, 
than  this,  that  you  hold  fast  and  close  by  your  Bible. 
Peruse  it  with  frequency,  with  seriousness,  with  dili- 
gence, and  with  self-application.  Treasure  up  its 
precious  truths  in  your  memory.  Let  them  be  the  sub- 
ject of  your  deep  and  habitual  meditation.  Apply  to 
them  for  consolation  and  guidance.  Yield  yourselves 
to  their  purifying  influence  ;  and  in  whatever  circum- 
stances you  are  placed,  whatever  trials  you  are  called 
to  undergo,  whatever  duties  you  are  appointed  to  per- 
form, never  for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  your  Bible. 
Let  it  be  your  study  by  day,  and  your  song  by  night. 
Let  it  be  your  companion  in  society  and  in  solitude. 
Though  you  abandon  every  thing  else,  keep  your  Bi- 
ble ;  believe  it,  love  it.  read  it,  and  ye  shall  be  happy. 
It  is  the  light  of  your  souls  ;  it  is  the  source  of  your 
joy  ;  it  is  the  ground  of  your  hope  ;  it  is  the  well  out 
of  which  ye  are  to  draw  the  waters  of  life  and  salva- 
tion. 

But  not  the  half  of  my  object  in  giving  you  this  ad- 
vice is  gained  unless  I  add,  that  the  profound  and  af- 
fectionate regard  to  the  Bible  which  I  have  recom- 
mended, must  pervade  all  the  religious  exercises  in 
which  you  engage,  and  all  the  religious  conduct  which 
you  maintain.  To  this  standard  you  must  bring  every 
thing  which  may  be  employed  to  influence  your  judg- 
ment, your  heart,  or  your  life.  Nothing  is  good  either 
in  opinion  or  in  practice  which  is  contrary  to  its  spirit 
or  its  letter,  and  which  is  not  dictated  or  sanctioned  by 
them.  Is  there  any  sentiment  current  in  the  world, 
which,  from  its  apparent  innocence  or  expediency,  you 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  439 

are  tempted  to  adopt  ?  Give  it  no  quarter  till  you  have 
brought  it  to  the  test  of  your  Bible,  and  ascertained 
that  it  accords  with  what  is  written  there.  Is  there  any 
fashion  into  which  the  example  of  your  friends  or  your 
superiors  has  a  tendency  to  betray  you  ?  Avoid  it,  till 
you  have  found  not  merely  that  your  Bible  does  not  ex- 
pressly forbid  it,  but  that  you  can  embrace  it  consistently 
with  the  maxims  which  your  Bible  prescribes,  and  the 
character  w^hich  it  requires.  Does  any  worldly  pleas- 
ure or  amusement  invite  you  to  indulge  in  it  ?  Refrain 
from  the  indulgence  till  you  have  consulted  your  Bible, 
and  found  it  indubitably  consistent  with  that  heavenly- 
mindedness  which  it  is  the  object  of  the  Bible  to  cher- 
ish, and  with  that  dignity  of  deportment  to  which  the 
Bible  teaches  you  to  aspire.  Do  you  peruse  books  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  yourselves  in  the  knowledge 
and  the  ways  of  religion  ?  Never  forget  to  bring  your 
Bible  into  contact  with  them,  and  though  they  be 
written  by  the  wisest  and  the  best  of  human  beings,  do 
not  hesitate  to  reject  what  they  contain,  if  they  have 
departed  from  the  record  of  the  Bible,  and  "  teach  for 
doctrines  the  commandments  of  men."  Do  you  come 
into  God's  house  that  you  may  hear  his  servants,  and 
engage  in  his  worship  ?  Bring  your  Bibles  in  your 
hand  and  in  your  heart,  and  lend  an  obedient  ear 
to  the  preacher,  and  let  your  feelings  go  along  with 
the  services,  only  while  they  are  faithful  to  the  truths 
of  the  Bible.  Do  you  go  to  the  throne  of  grace  ? 
Be  careful  not  only  to  pray  under  the  influence, 
and  according  to  the  directions  of  your  Bible,  but 
let  it  be  your  fervent  and  persevering  petition  that 
the  Bible  may  become  every  day  more  precious  in 
your  esteem, — that  you  may  discern  it  more  spiritually, 
that  you  may  believe  it  more  firmly,  that  you  may  love 
it  more  ardently,  that  you  may  obey  It  more  conscien- 
tiously and  more  diligently. 

Again,  you  have  received  benefit  by  attending  the 
public  ordinances  of  the  gospel.  And  can  I  urge  a 
better  or  more  powerful  motive  for  persuading  you  to 


440  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

persevere  in  that  attendance  ?  What  reason  have  you  to 
be  grateful  to  the  God  of  all  grace,  that  you  are  so  lib- 
erally furnished  with  the  public  means  of  instruction 
and  improvement, — that  the  Sabbath  regularly  returns 
to  you,  with  all  its  spiritual  comforts  and  advantages, — 
that  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord  is  open  to  you  with  its 
pure  doctrine  and  its  scriptural  worship, — and  that  a 
communion-table  is  spread  in  the  wilderness  for  the 
nourishment  and  refreshment  of  your  souls  ?  And  what 
reason  have  you  to  be  grateful  that  your  attention  to 
these  has  been  so  blessed  of  heaven,  that  you  can  say 
from  your  own  experience,  "  It  has  been  good  for  us  to 
draw  near  unto  God,  to  keep  his  day  holy,  to  go  into 
his  house,  to  listen  to  his  word,  to  join  in  his  service, 
and  to  partake  of  the  memorials  of  a  Redeemer's 
love  ?"  Be  exhorted  to  show  your  gratitude  by  continu- 
ing to  wait  upon  the  Lord  in  all  the  ordinances  of  his 
appointment, — by  observing  these  with  all  the  decency 
and  with  all  the  punctuality,  and  with  all  the  affection 
which  their  nature  and  importance  demand,  and  by 
giving  them  that  prominent  place  in  your  regard  and  in 
your  practice  which,  in  every  point  of  view,  they  are 
justly  entitled  to  hold.  Never  neglect  them  on  any 
frivolous  or  unjustifiable  pretext,  as  if  the  business  or  the 
pleasures  of  this  world  could  at  any  time  deserve  the 
preference.  Let  none  of  them  be  deemed  of  litde 
consequence,  or  of  inferior  obligation.  Go  not,  in  the 
least  degree,  into  the  false  notions  of  nominal  professors 
and  ungodly  men,  that  they  are  not  essential  to  any,  or 
that  they  are  not  useful  to  all.  You  know  that  such 
notions  are  idle,  dangerous  and  false  :  and  you  know 
also  that  they  are  too  generally  prevalent.  But  this 
consideration  should  render  you  the  more  zealous,  and 
devout,  and  consistent  in  your  attachment  to  the  ordi- 
nances of  religion.  To  manifest  such  an  attachment  is 
a  duty  which  you  owe  both  to  yourselves  and  to  others. 
You  owe  it  to  your  own  character,  which  you  are  bound 
to  improve  by  every  means  in  your  power.  You  owe 
it  to  the  gospel,  to  the  truth  and  authority  of  which  it  is 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  441 

incumbent  on  you  to  give  the  most  open  and  unequivo- 
cal testimony.  You  owe  it  to  your  brethren,  whom  you 
are  called  on  to  support  by  your  countenance,  and 
guide  and  animate  by  your  example.  And  you  owe  it 
to  those  who  are  "  set  over  you  in  the  Lord,"  whom  it 
is  your  own  interest  to  encourage  in  their  labors,  and 
who,  if  I  may  judge  by  what  I  myself  have  felt,  derive 
no  small  portion  of  their  encouragement,  as  well  as  of 
their  comfort,  from  your  regular  and  pious  attendance 
on  their  ministrations. 

I  have  one  exhortation  more  to  give  you,  my  chris- 
tian friends,  and  it  is  this — continue  in  the  ways  of 
righteousness,  and  abound  yet  more  and  more  in  godli- 
ness and  good  works. 

You  w\]\  do  me  the  justice  to  admit,  that  though  I 
have  insisted  strenuously  on  the  doctrines  of  grace,  as 
the  peculiar  and  leading  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  I  have 
no  less  strenuously  inculcated  the  necessity  of  holiness, 
as  at  once  plainly  prescribed,  and  in  every  way  encour- 
aged by  the  Christian  system.  And,  I  have  no  doubt, 
that  you  have  felt  "  the  grace  of  God  which  has  appear- 
ed, bringing  salvation,  teaching  you  to  deny  all  ungod- 
liness, and  w^orldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously, 
and  godly  in  this  present  world."  Now  I  beseech  you 
to  magnify  the  power  of  divine  grace,  by  walking,  with 
unshaken  firmness,  and  increased  alacrity,  in  the  ways 
of  God's  commandments.  Far  from  becoming  "  weary 
in  well  doing,"  you  must  be  "  stedfast  and  unrnoveable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  Give 
constant  and  growing  proof  that  your  knowledge  is 
practical ;  that  your  faith  is  a  living  fountain  of  obedi- 
ence ;  that  your  religion  is  not  a  set  of  speculative 
opinions,  about  which  you  can  only  talk,  and  dispute, 
and  dogmatise ;  but  a  system  of  active  and  holy  prin- 
ciples, by  the  operation  of  which  your  heart  and  con- 
duct are  made  conformable  to  the  will  of  God.  Show 
that  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the  gospel  is  minute 
and  universal ;  that  it  extends  to  every  situation  of  life, 
and  every  branch  of  duty ;  that  it  regulates  alike  the 


442  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

inward  temper  and  the  outward  behavior.  Show  it  in 
tlie  fervor  of  your  piety,  in  the  integrity  of  your  dealings, 
in  the  purity  of  your  conversation,  in  the  warmth,  the 
extent,  the  activity,  the  disinterestedness,  the  spirituality, 
of  your  benevolence.  Show  it  in  your  several  relations 
— as  husbands  and  wives — as  parents  and  children — as 
brothers  and  sisters — as  masters  and  servants — as 
teachers  and  taught — as  neighbors  and  friends.  Show 
it  in  your  various  circumstances — in  riches  and  in  pov- 
erty— in  prosperity  and  in  adversity — in  health  and  in 
sickness — in  joy  and  in  sorrow — in  obscurity  and  in  em- 
inence— in  society  and  in  retirement — in  youth  and  in 
advanced  age — in  life  and  at  death.  See  that  there  be 
nothing  wanting  which  may  contribute  to  the  complete- 
ness of  your  character.  "  Add  to  your  faith,  virtue  ; 
and  to  virtue,  knowledge  ;  and  to  knowledge,  temper- 
ance ;  and  to  temperance  patience ;  and  to  patience, 
godliness  ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly  kindness  ;  and  to 
brotherly  kindness,  charity  ;  that  these  things  being  in 
you,  and  abounding,  you  may  be  neither  barren  nor 
unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ."  Never 
"  tliink  that  you  have  already  attained,  or  that  you  are 
already  perfect,  but  forgetting  the  things  that  are  be- 
hind, and  reaching  forth  to  those  that  are  before,  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  your  high  calling." — 
"  Wait  on  the  Lord  that  you  may  run  and  not  be  wea- 
ry, that  you  may  walk  and  not  faint."  Depend  upon 
the  grace  of  God,  and  pray  for  it,  that  you  may  be 
"  strengthened  with  all  might  in  the  inner  man,"  and 
"  go  on  your  way  rejoicing."  Be  ever  looking  for- 
ward to  the  heavenly  joy  that  is  set  before  you,  that 
you  may  be  purified  by  the  hope  which  it  inspires,  that 
you  may  be  animated  in  the  path  of  christian  duty,  and 
that  you  may  be  gradually  ripened  for  the  society  of 
those,  who  having  "  kept  the  faith  and  finished  their 
course,"  have  entered  into  that  "  rest  which  remaineth 
for  the  people  of  God." 

Let  me  now  address  myself  to  those  who  have  been 
awakened  to  some  concern  about  their  spiritual  state, 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  443 

and  led  to  inquire  about  the  way  of  salvation.     To  you 
I  would  say,  "  continue  in  the  things  which  you  have 
learned."     The   concern  which  you  feel  respects  the 
most  interesting  and  important  of  all  subjects,  the  salva- 
tion of  your  souls  :    and  with  that,  surely,   you   can 
never  be  too  much,  or  too  solicitously,   occupied :  it 
may  engage  too  little  of  your  attention ;  this    is  your 
danger ;  but  there  is  no  risk  of  your  going  to  excess  in 
earnestness   and   anxiety  concerning  the  happiness  of 
that  never-dying  principle  which  lives  within  you.   The 
inquiry  on  which  you   have  entered  is  too  momentous 
to  be  forgotten  or  neglected ;  it  regards  nothing  less 
than  the  method  by  which  you  are  to   escape  the  eter- 
nal punishment  to  which,  as  sinners,  you  have  been 
condemned,  and  to  regain  the  eternal  felicity,  which,  as 
sinners,  you  have  forfeited  and  lost.     O  what  a  glorious 
object  is  this  before  you !     And  is  there  any  thing  in 
the  way  of  difficulty,  or  of  exertion,  or  of  suffering,  that 
should  discourage  you  from  the  pursuit  of  it  ?     Surely 
it  is  worthy  of  your  best  and  most  strenuous  and  perse- 
vering exertions.     In   its  own   nature,  it  consists  of  all 
that  you  can  desire,  and  of  all  that  you  can  conceive  of 
good  ;  nay,  it  surpasses  both.     And  then  you  are  sure 
of  success  in  the  pursuit.     No  doubt  you   will  meet 
with  occasional  interruptions  :  the  world  and  your  own 
hearts   and   the  wicked  one,  and  the   evil  companions 
with  whom  you  have  hitherto  as§ociated,  and   the   se- 
ducing pleasures  of  whose  vanity  and  guilt  you  are 
more  than  half  persuaded,  will   all  combine  to  infuse 
doubts  into  your  minds,  to  make  you  stop  short  in  your 
religious  inquiries,  to  induce   you  to   go  back   to  that 
state  of  carelessness  and  sin  from  which  you  had  partly 
escaped.      But  against  these  be  continually  on  your 
guard.     They  have  never  yet  conducted  you  in  a  good 
way,  nor  afforded  you  any  real  comfort.     Take  up  the 
resolution,  then,  that  you  will  listen  to  them  no  more, 
till  you  have  fully  satisfied  yourselves  respecting  the 
truth  and  excellence  of  the  gospel,  and   till  you  have 
fairly  tried  what  it  is  to  be  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ. 


444  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

Do  this,  and  be  assured  that  soon,  very  soon,  you  will 
obtain  the  victory  over  all  the  opposition  which  now 
lies  in  your  way.  "  Follow  on  to  know  the  Lord," 
and  you  shall  know  him.  Continue  to  "  search  the 
Scriptures,"  as  containing  "  the  words  of  eternal  life," 
and  testifying  of  the  Saviour.  Cease  not  to  pray  for 
direction  and  assistance  from  that  great  Being  whose 
favor  it  is  your  object  as  it  will  be  your  happiness  to 
obtain.  Make  diligent  use  of  all  the  means  of  illumina- 
tion with  which  Providence  has  furnished  you.  And 
be  resolved  to  embrace  the  truth,  wherever  you  shall 
find  it,  and  whatever  sacrifices  of  private  opinion  and 
of  worldly  affection  it  may  require  of  you.  Thus  shall 
you,  I  say  it  with  confidence,  attain  at  length  that  faith 
which  is  to  "  the  saving  of  the  soul,"  which  spreads 
over  the  mind  that  "  peace  of  God  which  passeth  un- 
derstanding," and  is  accompanied  with  that  "joy  which 
is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

I  must  now,  in  the  last  place,  address  those  who 
have  derived  no  benefit  from  my  ministry  ;  who  have 
given  a  partial,  or  it  may  be  a  regular,  attendance  on 
the  services  of  the  sanctuary,  but  are  as  careless — as 
unbelieving — as  impenitent  as  ever. 

I  should  be  extremely  willing — I  should  be  delighted 
— to  believe  that  there  were  no  such  persons  in  this 
congregation  ;  or  if  there  were,  to  pass  them  over  in 
silent  sorrow,  and  wkh  prayer  to  God  that  it  might 
please  him  to  change  their  hearts.  But  it  is  impossible 
to  disguise  the  fact  that  there  are  such  persons ;  and 
the  fact  is  too  melancholy  and  affecting  to  admit  of  my 
repressing  the  feelings  which  it  awakens,  or  of  omitting 
this  opportunity  to  make  another,  and  a  last  attempt  to 
reclaim  them  to  "  glory  and  to  virtue." 

Your  consciences,  my  friends,  must  accuse  you  ;  and 
if  you  be  not  hardened  to  a  degree  that  I  cannot  allow 
myself  to  suppose,  they  must  also  condemn  you.  It  is 
natural  for  you,  however,  in  that  case  to  frame  some 
apologies,  by  which  your  conduct  may  be  vindicated, 
or  your  guilt  alleviated.     What  these  may  be  I  cannot 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  445 

pretend  to  imagine.  But  sure  I  am  that  whatever  they 
may  be,  they  can  be  nothing  but  "  refuges  of  Hes." 
In  this  happy  land,  where  saving  knowledge  abounds, 
it  is  impossible  for  you  to  urge  any  substantial  apology, 
or  any  satisfactory  vindication.  With  regard  to  the 
privileges  which  you  have  enjoyed  here,  I  shall  make 
all  the  concessions  which  can  be  reasonably  asked.  I 
may  have  been  in  fault.  I  may  not  have  labored  with 
sufficient  earnestness.  I  may  not  have  placed  the  doc- 
trine of  salvation  before  you  in  its  most  striking  aspects. 
I  may  not  have  always  "  rightly  divided  the  word  of 
truth."  All  this  I  am  willing  to  acknowledge  ;  and 
under  a  conviction  of  its  truth,  I  am  ready  to  cry  out, 
''  God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner." 

But  think  not  that  any  deficiencies  of  mine  will  ex- 
cuse your  indifference  to  the  concerns  of  your  immor- 
tal souls,  or  justify  you  for  living  in  rebellion  against 
the  God  of  heaven,  and  in  contempt  of  the  Saviour  of 
sinners.  You  must  account  for  the  advantages  which 
you  have  enjoyed,  be  they  great  or  small.  If  much 
has  been  given  you,  much  will  be  required  of  you.  If 
little  has  been  given,  the  less  will  be  required.  Still, 
however,  there  is  something  to  be  required ;  and  with- 
out presuming  to  have  exceeded,  or  even  reached  the 
ordinary  average  of  ministerial  talent  and  fidelity,  your 
responsibility  is  great  and  awful,  and  well  calculated  to 
rouse  you  to  serious  thought  and  alarming  anticipation. 
I  have  at  least  delivered  to  you  the  great  message  of 
the  gospel.  I  have  told  you  of  your  guilt.  I  have 
warned  you  of  your  danger.  I  have  besought  you  to 
"  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  to  be  "  reconciled  unto 
God,"  to  accept  of  eternal  life.  I  have  represented  to 
you  the  cross  of  Christ,  as  "  the  power  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  for  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believ- 
eth."  I  have  used  many  arguments  to  convince  you, 
and  many  motives  to  persuade  you.  I  have  endeavored 
to  alarm  you  by  the  terrors  of  the  law,  and  to  allure 
you  by  the  mercies  of  the  gospel.  I  have  addressed 
myself  to  your  hopes  and  your  fears,  to  your  love,  your 
38 


446  minister's  farewell.  ser.  22. 

gratitude,  your  honor,  and  your  interest.  And  by  the 
means  with  which  this  sacred  volume  has  furnished  me, 
I  have  tried  to  awaken  you  from  the  delusions  of  sin — 
to  separate  you  from  the  enchantments  of  an  evil 
world — to  deliver  you  from  the  bondage  of  inward  cor- 
ruption, and,  through  the  ministry  of  the  simple  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  to  conduct  you  in  that  way  which  leads 
to  heaven  and  to  glory.  I  have  done  this  ;  but  it  has 
produced  no  effect;  and  in  that  consists  your  guilt,  and 
from  that  results  your  danger.  You  and  your  minister 
must  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  God  and  answer  for 
our  conduct.  Whether  I  be  on  the  right  hand,  or  on 
the  left,  I  must  be  a  witness  against  you,  and  if  you 
persevere  in  misirnprovement  and  indifference,  my  tes- 
timony must  be  this :  "  I  delivered  to  these,  my  hear- 
ers, the  message  of  God,  but  they  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
it ;  I  offered  them  the  salvation  of  the  gospel,  but  they 
refused  it ;  I  showed  them  the  love  of  a  bleeding 
Saviour,  but  they  were  unmoved  by  it ;  I  endeavored 
to  alarm  them  by  the  punishment  of  hell,  but  they 
braved  it;  I  tried  to  kindle  in  them  the  fire  of  holy 
ambition,  by  unfolding  to  them  the  joys  of  heaven,  but 
they  despised  it  ;  I  cast  upon  them  the  light  of  God's 
word,  but  they  shut  their  eyes  against  it  ;  I  exhorted, 
I  remonstrated,  I  pleaded,  and  I  prayed  with  them, 
but  they  would  not  come  unto  Christ  that  they  might 
have  life  ;  they  chose  to  live  in  sin,  to  die  in  impen- 
itence, and  to  come  into  eternity  unsanctified  and  un- 
forgiven."  Alas  !  and  must  this  be  my  testimony  ? 
And  what  will  you  be  able  to  say  to  it  ?  If  you  should 
attempt  to  deny  it,  "your  own  hearts  would  condemn 
you  ;  and  God,  who  is  greater  than  your  hearts,  and 
knoweth  all  things,  would  also  condemn  you."  And 
what  will  He  say  to  you  ?  '•  As  for  these  mine  ene- 
mies, who  would  not  that  I  should  rule  over  them, 
take  them  and  cast  them  into  outer  darkness,  where 
shall  be  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
This  is  the  sentence  of  an  Almighty  and  avenging 
God.     Are  you  able    to  escape    it  ?     Are    you    pre- 


SER.  22.  minister's  farewell.  447 

pared  to  bear  it  ?  Are  you  resolved  to  set  it  at  defi- 
ance ?  O  no.  "  Who  can  dwell  with  devouring  flames, 
who  can  lie  down  in  everlasting  burnings  ?"  You  can- 
not thus  go  deliberately  into  eternal  ruin.  Suffer  me 
to  hope  that  my  last,  my  fondest,  my  most  earnest  en- 
treaty will  not  be  disregarded.  Listen  to  the  voice  of 
God  to-day,  and  no  longer  harden  your  hearts.  This 
moment  let  the  resolution  be  formed  that  you  will  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  sin  ;  this  moment  vow  to  the 
Lord  that  you  will  henceforth  be  his ;  this  moment  let 
your  perishing  souls  be  cast  into  the  arms  of  Christ, 
and  surrendered  to  his  saving  power.  This  moment 
let  your  aspirations  ascend  to  the  throne  of  heaven  for 
pardoning  mercy,  and  for  sanctifying  grace,  and  for 
life  everlasting.  There  is  mercy,  and  grace,  and  life, 
for  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  for  you.  "  Believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  ye  shall  be  saved."  "Repent 
and  be  converted,  and  your  sins  shall  be  blotted  out." 
Embrace  the  overtures  of  the  gospel,  cherish  its  spirit, 
submit  to  its  authority,  and  "  all  things  shall  be  yours, 
for  ye  shall  be  Christ's  and  Christ  is  God's.  With  this 
exhortation,  and  in  the  comfortable  hope  that  you  will 
comply  with  it,  I  now  bid  you  farewell,  "  commending 
you  all  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace.  May 
the  Lord  bless  and  keep  you.  May  the  Lord  cause 
his  face  to  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  to  you. 
May  the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  you  and 
give  you  peace." — Amen. 


\ 


f{ 


